Zero to Heal Us
by Liliana Dragonshard
Summary: In a world that was losing its humanity, a Scientist made an attempt to set things right. He ended up with the Stitchpunks; little creatures made of metal and covered with cloth. Each with a job to fulfill to help all. He did all of the First Numbers; the numbers that create all others. All of them up to 9. But if this is true, then where is the tenth Stitchpunk? Where is 0?
1. The First Numbers

**Author's Note**

**I don't own 9**

**Well, I've been typing up stuff for awhile now and I may as well publish it. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong> The First Numbers

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><p>0 wasn't sure how long she had been running since her last encounter with the Cat Beast, and she didn't really care. There was a storm approaching, and while she loved the rain, She hated the thunder. It boomed with a sound like bombs and gunshots from the first war; it terrified her. So she hurried along, hoping to get to the Shelter before the storm fell upon her full force.<p>

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9, 7, 3, and 4 had begun to make a new home in the Library after the destruction of the Machine. It had been two weeks, and already, they had found materials to help them build many things. 9 gazed out the window, lost in thought. He was thinking about his first few days awake, and how he could have done things differently.

4 looked up from her book, frowning in concern at 9. 3 looked up at her and clicked, [What's the matter?] 4 shook her head and pointed to 9, who sat staring out the window. 3 didn't have to guess what was wrong. 9 was thinking of the Others. Even though it was the Machines fault that the Others had died, 9 blamed himself for it.

_HE_ was the one that put the Talisman into the Machine. _HE_ caused the others destruction's. It was _HIS_ fault that they died . . . . he told 7 and the twins that he knew it wan't his fault, but the way he stared into space, and his nightmares, proved him otherwise.

[Well, what should we do about it?] 3 clicked back, and 4 got an idea, and clicked it over to her twin. He nodded, grinning, and the two crept up silently on 9. When they were within reach, they pounced on him, tickling his sides and stomach as he struggled and laughed, trying to push them off or tickle them back. But he was outnumbered; it was a pointless fight.

"O-o-okay-!" he finally shouted, trying to wriggle from their grasp, gasping with laughter. "I-I give! S-st-stop-!?" the two finally relented, letting him collapse on his back, gulping down air. He finally lifted his head, giving them a rueful, yet playful look. Scrambling to his feet, he raised his arms above his head, wriggling his fingers spookily, hunching his back and narrowing his shutters for added effect.

"I shall capture you all!" he shouted out, running at the twins with a playfully imitated growl as the two scattered. He chased after them with large, overly exaggerated, stomping footsteps, pretending to be some sort of Beast. The two looked back with fake fear, but their grins between betrayed them. They stumbled into 7, who had been come to see what the noise was about.

The twins barely paused, only waved wildly towards the room before running at top speed for the nearest cover. 7 pushed her bird skull helmet, or skullmet, over her face, hands made into tight fists. She stayed where she was, listening to the pounding footsteps that were rapidly approaching, the growls and snarls with it. She saw it come around the corner, and knocked its feet out from under it!

"Rrroooaa-Ahhhh?!" yelped 9, his mock roar cut off as he suddenly found himself on the ground. 7 spared the twins a small glare from their hideout of books, before helping 9 up.

"Sorry." 9 waved it off.

"That's okay. I probably would have down the same thing." he smiled at her, and 7 pushed her skullmet up and returned it. 3 and 4 came running over, clicking rapid apologies. He ruffled the two's hoods with a soft smile.

"It's okay, you didn't know that would happen." his expression saddened, looking off into the distance. 4 and 3, sensing 9's turn of thought, grabbed the two taller Others and dragged them over to see a book that they had found. It was a simple story book, about a magical fantasy land. It helped to get 9's mind off of the Others that were lost, and soon, they all grew tired and went to their sleeping places for the night.

Had they stayed awake a little longer, they may have heard the quiet _click-cli_-**CLUNK** _click-cli_-**CLUNK** approaching between bouts of thunder.

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She struggled through the mud and puddles, trying without success to brush some of the runny, wet earth off, with little success. Her armor was growing heavy, and her sharpened staff slippery, but she pressed on. She had to reach the Shelter she had been to before. Jumping at every bit of thunder, she looked through her red goggles nervously, adjusting the cat skull on her head before continuing.

She had managed to construct her metal-over-cork armor through long trial-and-error over the years, with a little assistance from three friends. Two of them lived in the Shelter, as she liked to call it, and the other lived in what they called the Sanctuary. His name was 2 and he was an inventor, and had helped her with her staff and a lot with her armor.

The other two were twins and Librarians, always cataloging whatever new thing she brought back with her, Teaching and Defining things for her when she was confused. She could flash her shutters with light like they could, and thus talk with them. She had once been able to speak out loud, before.

She had long ago disabled/broken her voice box, when she awoke from a nightmare, her screams luring the Cat-Beast right to her temporary hide-out. She could have fixed it, but chose not to. She only ever really talked to the twins, and they talked with flashes and clicks from their eyes like her.

She knew that there were more of the Others -as they called themselves- besides the Twins and 2, who lived in the Sanctuary, and one who lived alone, like her, wondering about and doing what they were made to do.

They were Stitchpunks; made by the Creator and sent out into the world for different reasons. She had helped the Scientist, the Creator of each of the Stitchpunks and the Talisman, make drawings of them as he created each one and gave them his soul. She had only been awake before 6, though, and had helped with 7, 8, and then 9. She knew what each task they were supposed to give to each other as a whole.

Most of the Stitchpunks were gone, now. Not dead, but their spirits were disconnected from their bodies. They could not preform the tasks they were made and sent out for, and now it was her turn to do hers. Her metal armor, cat skull and red goggles were so she would have the protection of camouflage; whenever any of the Beasts had seen her, they had left her alone, for the most part.

But recently, she had been contacted by the spirits of the Stitchpunks. They had all, one by one, guided her to their bodies, which she had brought back to the First Room. She had found spare parts, but could not figure out how to properly fix them. That's why she was now looking for the last of them, and the Talisman. She needed to find 2, but his body had been put somewhere in the Shelter.

She was close, and could see the walkway, but between the pounding rain, heavy, water-logged armor, and her fatigue, she didn't see an obstacle in her path. Tripping over a bit of broken statue, she let out a silent cry of surprise and pain as her right ankle twisted round. She started to push herself back up, but nearly collapsed again.

Her ankle was twisted, probably sprained.

She didn't have time for injuries! She had a mission to complete!

Getting up, biting on her lip to try and distract herself from the pain, she limped forward with a noise she couldn't bear. It was in no way stealthy and was very nerve-wracking for her. She didn't want the Beasts to find her.

_click-cli_-**CLUNK** _click-cli_-**CLUNK **_click-cli-_**CLUNK **_click-cli-_**CLUNK**

As she struggled to move forward at a fast pace, she kept near-falling, the armor around her right ankle hitting the ground with loud **CLUNK**s as her foot twisted painfully. Scrabbling painstakingly inside the entrance, she let herself collapse. She was tired and in pain, and could feel a tug on her mind.

_They_ were calling her, needing to speak with her. She groaned silently. Couldn't it wait? Couldn't it wait until she was dry or at least hidden? Apparently not, as the tugging got more insistent, a ghostly green fogging up her vision before all went black.

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0 looked around herself. She was somewhere very dark, yet vaguely familiar. Her leg didn't pain her here, and she was free of her armor, but not the red stitches that were her scars from fights and accidents. Two figures approached her, whom she recognized as 2 and 6. They were a ghostly green, their numbers standing out from their on backs, and they were somewhat see-through.

"6, 2. . . ." she murmured, voice rusty from disuse. The Inventor smiled kindly and laid a ghostly hand on her shoulder, which was rather solid-feeling. It didn't surprise her; she'd seen this before. 6 looked at her shyly before looking back down at his feet, clasping and unclasping his ink-stained hands. Out of the other Stitchpunks she'd met in this place, she understood 6 the best, it seemed.

"Yes, 0, it's me." he chuckled, giving her shoulder two pats before taking a pace back. 6 stepped forward hesitantly and gave her a hug, which she kindly returned, but she was beginning to feel frustrated.

"Why did you call me now? I'm out in the open, what if the Beast shows up?" she asked in a slightly accusing, mostly worried tone. There was a trace of fear, too. 2 shook his head sympathetically. 6 only looked down, guilt evident on his face as he played with his ghost-key.

"I'm sorry, 0, but we had to before you saw them. I didn't want you to mistake them for enemies and attack." 0 tilted her head.

"I would never attack 3 and 4. They're like my brother and sister!" 2 shook his head.

"I meant 7 or 9, but we can't talk long."

"Y-yeah. Our bodies, the stream, rising high . . . very high . . . water . . ." stuttered 6, meeting her eyes before looking down again. He was having one of his times again. He had seen something, but without pictures to show her, he was trying to tell her. 2 patted his shoulder in a comforting way.

"The trench that 6's body fell into has a stream at the bottom. When the others gave me my funeral, they floated my body in a plank of wood in some water. It ended up next to 6's body down there."

"And all the sky-water is making it rise higher. . . your bodies will be dislodged, won't they?!" she exclaimed, desperation clear in her voice. 2 nodded, smiling a small, hopeful smile.

"You are on the right track, my dear. If you can get us out and back to the First Room with the Source, we'll all be able to come back." he replied, laying a hand on her shoulder again. Only for it to go through her!

She gasped at the freezing cold she felt go through her right shoulder, sending violent shivers throughout her entire small frame. 2 stepped back, shock written across his features. 6 swayed where he stood, fear and terror spreading across his features.

"No, no. . .why now? It wasn't supposed to . . . .to happen . . . y-yet." he mumbled, swaying in place before falling to his knees. 2 crouched down next to him in concern, and 0 got closer, to.

"6? Are you okay?" she asked, fear creeping up on her. 6 bolted to his feet, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her roughly.

"You have to-!" he yelped out. "You have to find us! He's fading away, he's fading away! Soon he'll be gone! Nothing left! Nothing-!?" exclaimed 6 in fear and desperation, his striped form shaking and shuddering, and he fell back to his knees with a sob. 0 crouched next to him.

"Why is 2 fading away, 6?" she asked softly. 6 looked up at her forlornly. She seemed to understand his cryptic messages when few others did. It just made him feel more frantic now, to get his message across to her.

"He's been here to long! _To long_!? Soon he'll be gone f-forever! You won't be able to save him! You have to save him-!?" explained/yelled 6, who clung to her like a scared little kid. 0 gently pulled him off and turned to 2.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, holding out her hands, palm up, in a seeking gesture. 2 shook his head.

"I didn't know that it would come so soon, and I didn't want to worry you to much. Take caution, and don't beat yourself up if, on the slim chance, you do fail. It'll be okay." 0 stared at him, before throwing herself at him without thinking, trying to hug him again; but she passed right through him. Her entire form was racked with shivering shudders.

She had never felt so cold before. For a moment, she was afraid, very afraid. She let herself fall first to her knees, then to her side, curling in on herself until she was in a firm ball, shivering and shuddering as she tried to get warm. She felt damp, and a cold she was more accustomed to. Her right leg ached as it had last night, and she felt hands shaking her shoulders.

She looked up to see 6, shaking her carefully, trying to get her attention. 2 peered over his shoulders worriedly. She gave them a weak smile. "D-don't worry," she began. "I'll s-save y-you. I'll s-save y-you all." she let her head fall back, and no longer felt 6's pen hands on her. She let darkness wash over and fell asleep.

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><p><strong>Me: Well, that was a lot.<strong>

**9: I'll say it is. Why's you drop an OC Other on our doorstep?**

**7: Yeah, I thought that you were going to do a author inse-*0 claps hand over mouth***

**0: Shut it, already. She doesn't want people to know yet.**

**3 and 4(Twins): [When are we gonna show up again?]**

**7: . . . .**

**9: What are they saying?**

**3: *face palms***

**4: *waves hands about in frustration***

**0: They're asking when they're going to appear again in the story.**

**7: *blinks* you can understand them. .?**

**Me: Well, yeah, that's how I designed her.**

**Me, 9, 7, 3 and 4: *arguing and yelling over eachother while 0 watches them with a 'what are these idiots doing' look on her face***

**Rebuilt Cat-Beast: * walks up and observes the chaos before lumbering up behind 9* Uh, what are you doing?**

**9: *looks behind him slowly* AAAHH!? *runs away yelling while grabbing the Twins with 7 and hiding underneath Liliana's bed***

**Cat-Beast: . . . . what did I say?**

**Me: *Rolls eyes***

**0: They don't know that you're on our side yet, Cat. Forgot to tell them.**

**Cat-Beast: . . . oh. . . **

**Me: *sighs* You two wrap this up, I'll go get the others out from under the bed. *goes to get the others out from under the bed.***

**Cat-Beast: Liliana Doesn't own me or any of the characters from the movie '**9**'.**

**0: Yeah, she only owns me, so if you try to steal me, she'll send Cat and the rest of the Stitchpunks to hunt you down.**

**Cat-Beast and 0: *0 on Cat's back and both waving* 'Bye!**


	2. The Stitch-Beast is Afraid of Thunder?

**Author's Note**

**I don't own **

**Well, lets see how much I've improved. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2:<strong> The Stitch-Beast is Afraid of Thunder. .?

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><p>The twins woke up just as the sun was rising, stretching out their arms and leaving the room that they shared. As they went towards the giant globe that served as their cataloging room, the noticed something.<p>

Something was glinting in the dawn light, a goldish orange that was reflecting into the lobby. The twins flashed at eachother for a moment.

[What do you think it is?] asks 4, hiding behind her brother, peeking out. 3 shrugged.

[We won't know unless we take a look. Besides, the Beasts are all gone.] he clicked back. 4 wasn't so sure, but with 3 leading the way, the twins approached. When they got a good look at it, they both froze in shock.

A creature made of metal, a cat skull on for its head and red eyes was lying on their doorstep. It wasn't moving, so they cautiously approached. 4 nudged at it cautiously, and when it didn't react, the two tried to turn it onto its back. When they succeeded, it suddenly moved, jerking its limbs, accompanied with a squeal as the metal protested being rubbed together so suddenly.

The twins ran back inside, and hurried into first 9, then 7's rooms, waking them up and dragging them to this new Beast. 7, armed with her spear and wearing her skullmet, moved quickly. She approached it warily, nudging one of its legs with her foot. It jerked its limbs again, curling in on itself and drawing the leg close. They could now see its back.

There was a faded oval on it. No, not just an oval, it was a . . .

[0?!] clicked 3, shaking his sisters shoulders and pointing. 7 had raised her staff, about to cut 0 into many small pieces when the twins got in the way, clicking and flashing rapidly.

"What is it?" asks 9, and the twins flashed and clicked and pointed at her back. 9 crouched down, slowly tracing it with a finger, tensing when it shuddered and curled into a tighter ball. The twins, through gestures and a few projected pictures, convinced 7 and 9 to bring 0 inside. Laying her out carefully, 9 and 7 got to work on the armor, trying to figure out how to take it off.

"Where do you think this one was hiding?" asks 7, removing some of the arm-guards. There was a layer of cork underneath each metal, and they had to untie each of the segments to take them off. The twins didn't bother with examining the armor, cataloging and learning about it as they usually would with new things. This made 9 feel a little uneasy.

Lifting up the odd spear with knife-ends that was found near this new Other, that appeared to have a leather strap and hand guards on it, and offered it to the twins.

"You guys wanna take a look at this?" he asked, and they shook their heads, instead carrying it and setting it next to the small pile of armor nearby. The metal was wet and the cork had soaked up some water, but the Other underneath was drenched through and through. The twins intervened to remove the cat skullmet and goggles, placing them on the pile of armor.

This Other was smaller than 7 or 9, barely as large as the twins. Her armor had made her appear bigger. She was made of a mixture of light blue and dark blue fabrics, with a dull, silver zipper. Her body was light blue, and she had a light blue hood, both soft and more vulnerable-looking. Her arms, legs, and head were made of the darker blue and there were stitches of red thread here and there; scars.

There was a clear, black '**0**' on her back, like as the metal armor that had coated her from the neck down. Her hands had wood palms and copper fingers. Her optics were a dull silver, the shutters closed tightly. Her right ankle was twisted around funny, and she flinched and bucked when 9 felt it.

"It's broken, somehow. Do you now anything about this, 7?" asked 9, looking up at her. 7 shrugged helplessly, looking at this new Other that the Twins seemed to know. Turning to them, she asks,

"Do you two know him?" 3 nodded, but 4 shook her head. The two looked at eachother, 3 confused and 4 annoyed as they flashed at eachother. 3 got an understanding look. 4 gestured to herself and then to 0.

"So you do know him?" and 4 shook her head violently with a scowl, pointing to herself and 0, then pointing at 7 and back to 0. 7 nodded slowly. "It's a her, isn't it?" and both twins nodded quickly.

"And you both know her?" asked 9, looking up. The twins nodded again. 9 looked down at 0 in confusion. "If she is 0, then didn't she come before 1? What I mean is, wouldn't she be, well. . . not as advanced as me?" he finally said, looking away some and rubbing the back of his neck. The twins silently laughed and shrugged. On the ground, 0 curled into a tighter ball, whimpering silently, shivering and cold.

"We need to get her dry." stated 7, crouching down again to place a hand on 0's back. 0 shuddered and bucked again before settling. The Twins ran off and came back with some soft cloth, passing them to 7 and 9 to wrap around the wet, cold Other. 0 was unresponsive besides the occasional twitch or jolt, keeping herself rolled in a tight ball.

Eventually, they moved her to 7's bed, which was a small cushion by human standards, but more like a queen-sized bed to the Stitchpunks. 7 rubbed her dry and tucked her shivering form into the blankets. 0 flinched and shuddered even under the blankets, when no one was touching her. 3 and 4 came in every now and then to check on her, even shooing 7 off at one point so they could stay with her.

0 didn't wake up until late that night.

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><p>0 blinked open her shutters slowly. They adjusted slowly, but the first thing she realized, even without her sight, was that she was cold and damp and wrapped up in cloth. Her foot throbbed and burned when she moved it, pulling a rare, but silent, cry from her. The next thing she realized was her lack of armor and goggles. She raised her hands and felt her optics.<p>

She wasn't used to seeing things without the red tint to them. She was on something soft, and she started when she saw something move near her. It was pale, and had a patch on its back obstructing something. A number? It looked vaguely like a seven . . . seven. . . . . . . .

_'What's going on?! What am I doing here? Where am I? Last thing I remember is collapsing near the Library . . .'_ 0 thought to herself, struggling to get the blankets off. Her movements only attracted the Defenders attention, as she rolled over again and sat up with a shiver, rubbing hers optics before looking down at 0, who froze under her gaze. 7 reached a small hand out, which 0 flinched from. She was afraid.

"It's okay, I'm a friend." 0 paused. Friend. . . the only other person who had said that to her had been 2. . . .2! _'I have to find it! I need to save them!'_ 0 thought desperately, struggling again against the blankets. 7 reached her hands out to the scared Stitchpunk, who suddenly flashed her optics at 7, trying to say that she was scared.

7 jerked back with a yelp, rubbing her optics, temporarily blinded, as it was almost completely dark. 0 yanked off the blankets and scrambled for the edge of the cushion. She felt like her right ankle was being cut off as it hit the ground, twisting painfully to the side. She thanked her Sky-water that she couldn't speak and scrambled forward on her hands and knees, trying to find the way out.

The moon had just started to show between the clouds, offering a soft, silvery light to see by. Hurrying out the door and into the depths of the Library, 0 struggled to climb up one of the shelves, a difficult task with her injured ankle. She managed to get up one, shoving a few books so that a small shelter was formed between them and one 'wall' of the shelf before squeezing herself in.

She could hear footsteps and and voices, but remained quiet, gently probing her ankle and wincing. Her breath came out in soft, almost inaudible gasps when she located the problem. It had only been twisted in its socket, so it was in the wrong position, and all of her scrambling and climbing had worsened it. Taking her ankle in her hands, she jerked it back into position, screaming silently at the rush of sharp pain.

It subsided quickly to a barely noticeable ache, and she wiggled and moved it to make sure it was in working order before slowly climbing down. She started walking around, searching for her armor. She felt very vulnerable without it. She wasn't a fighter. She wasn't built for it, and she only had armor so she could take a hit and keep running.

She didn't manage to find it, however, when she heard footsteps again. Hiding behind a corner, she waited until whoever was there had continued on. She found the Twins cataloging room easily enough, before she turned for the exit. It was regrettable, but she had to go on without her armor for now. The thought made her feel very uneasy, but she kept moving forward.

She had to save them.

She _had_ to.

She froze when she saw light. It wasn't the bright, white light of a Beast, but soft, flickering candlelight. She could see nothing that would hide her properly, and she hated fighting, so she ran, and, upon hearing footsteps behind her, tried to quicken her pace. Whatever was chasing her soon caught up, running right into her so they both fell to the ground, leaving 0 pinned underneath the larger.

0 gasped as all the air was forced from her mechanical lungs, scrabbling at the wet ground for a moment before falling limp. The other figure got off of her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." the voice said. It sounded like a males. 0 lay still. She'd learned that if you lay still long enough, a Beast would wander off and leave you alone. She felt a hand shake her shoulder, and looked up slowly. A friendly face was smiling down at her kindly. She pushed his hand off and tried to scramble back.

"No, no, it's okay, I'm a friend." 0 staggered to her feet, nearly slipping on the wet ground, but kept her distance. She held her hands out in a 'stay back' gesture, becoming more afraid. Living alone for so long dodging enemies -which did include a few of the Stitchpunks- plus her lack of protection, plus waking up somewhere unknown had left her terrified.

A rumble in the distance made her jump, jerking her head around to stare fearfully as the lightning spread across the sky. She sank into a practiced, concealing crouch -had she been behind a brick or some other small object- closing her optics and covering her head with an inaudible whimper. 9 watched her little break down, before placing a hand on her shoulder. 0 leaned into the touch slightly, rubbing her head against his hand.

Chuckling softly, 9 pulled her up and led her away. This Stitchpunk was a little smaller than the twins. It was. . . surprising, to say the least. 0 allowed him to guide her back towards the Library, looking over her shoulder with side shutters, as if to keep the thunder from sneaking up on her. When they were just inside the Library lobby, she looked up at 9, looking him up and down, lightly poking at the zipper so the end swung.

9 chuckled again. 0 flinched back suddenly, staring fearfully at a long shadow on the wall; a bird head silhouette, coming closer, getting bigger. 7 rounded the corner, the Twins following behind her with a candle. 0 froze, shutters wide and staring at the skullmet over 7's face, waiting for the next move. 4, seeing her friend, ran forward, flashing her optics in greeting.

[Hey, you're awake! Why did you run away?] flashed 4, grabbing the 0's hands. 0 looked down at her.

[Yeah, I'm awake, but wheres my armor? I feel so. . . vulnerable.] 0 flashed back. 9 and 7 watched the three small Stitchpunks talking.

[0, this is 7 and 9. They won't bite, promise.] flashed 3, gesturing to the bigger Stitchpunks. 0 looked at 7, who had pushed her skullmet up, before looking back at the twins.

[I . . . I have to complete a mission. But I need some help with it.] flashed 0.

[What sort of mission?] asked 3.

[Who sent you?] asked 4 at the same time. 0 shrugged.

[I can't really say. . . I just know what I have to do. I've finally figured out what I have to do to help, and I'm almost out of time. Will you help me?] pleaded 0. The Twins flashed at eachother for a moment before nodding with warm smiles. They grabbed her hands and dragged her towards the 9 and 7, despite her resistance; but being smaller than them, she had little say in the manner.

"Hello, my name is 7." introduced 7, offering her hand. 0 flinched back from it.

"And I'm 9. You're 0, aren't you?" asked 9 gently, and 0 nodded shyly. "It's okay, you don't have to be afraid of us. We're friends." comforted, holding out his hand. 0 pulled back a pace, but the Twins herded her closer to him, despite her attempts to escape. She finally stopped them, turning to 9.

She made an angry, nasty face, pretending to bark out some rather mean, hurtful words before acting afraid, holding up one finger. 9 tilted his head, trying to understand.

"Do you mean 1?" asked 7, and 0 nodded quickly. "Yeah, he can be pretty. . .harsh, but he's not all bad." 0 nodded, trying to reply with her voice, but no sound came out.

"You can't speak?" asked 9, and she shrugged, avoiding his optics and tapping her zipper, then her throat while moving her mouth. "Are you like 3 and 4? You're supposed to catalog things?" and she shook her head, meeting his eyes, slowly losing her fear. Looking around, she grabbed a small scrap of paper off the ground. Holding it out, she mimed hitting something hard, ripping the paper in half when she made contact.

"Your voice box is broken?" asked 9, and she nodded slowly. Motioning towards 7's skullmet, she motioned back to herself with a raised eyebrow.

"You want to see my skullmet? Sure, I guess." 7 took it off and tossed to at the smaller Stitchpunk, who caught it awkwardly, holding it up to the light. She seemed perplexed, unsure what to do with it. 3 laughed silently, taking the skullmet and placing it on her head. 0 jerked back, swinging her head back and forth swiftly to try and comprehend what had just happened.

The Twins ducked to avoid being hit in the optics by the beak before 0 yanked off the skullmet. 0 tried to hand it back to 7, who laughed. "Well, you were wearing that cat-skull thing, don't see what's so different about a bird skull?" she asked teasingly, taking the bird-skullmet and holding it easily. 0 flinched back again as another, booming rumble of thunder actually rattled the building, sending huge vibrations through the floor and into her feet.

It reminded her too much of the Metal Behemoths, stomping around, firing bullets and gas bombs. She crouched low to the ground, covering her head with one arm and feeling the ground for my vibrations with the other. She was trying not to panic, trying to formulate an escape plan. Spotting a tall shelf just behind them, 0's mind spun faster, forgetting everything else as it went into survival mode.

Looking to her right, she pretended to see something frightening, pointing and backing up in fake horror. As soon as the others were looking that way, she made a mad dash for the shelf, scrambling up. By the time the others noticed her disappearance, she was three shelves off the ground and still going. After getting 6 shelves off the ground, she stopped, peering down. She couldn't see anything following her up.

She backed away from the edge and sat down, leaning against the books behind her. She kept nodding off, jerking into half alertness at the smallest rumble of thunder. By the time the sun was beginning to send its rays across the sky, the storm had vanished and 0 had fallen fast asleep.

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><p><strong>Well, this was fun. Please review! Reviews are like hugs for me!<strong>


	3. Shelves and Drawings

**Author's Note**

**I don't own 9**

**Well, okay, lets see. I forgot to thank my buddy, '**Evo Royale the Dragon Keeper**' for giving me my first review, so thanks, dude! **

**A little side note, I picture feet and inches as it would mean for us, not the Stitchpunks. An inch for us would be like a foot for them, but this is just how I'm doing it, got it? Good. Carry on. ^_^**

**Also, has anyone noticed how, in the movie, it doesn't show us how 6 is opened so you can see is inner workings? Well, if anyone has any ideas on how he can be opened up, feel free to let me know. Enough of my ramblings. XD**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3:<strong> Shelves and Drawings

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><p>7, 9, and the twins had been searching for 0 for most of the night and day, and now, close to noon, they were exhausted. "Where do you think she would have gone, anyway?" asked 7, trooping back towards the Catalog room. 9 shrugged in response, looking around at the shelves of books that went right up to the ceiling. He spotted something sprawled out on a high shelf not too far away.<p>

"I think," started 9, pointing up, "That we just found her." 7 gawked for a moment.

"We go searching this place from top to bottom and she was there the whole time?" she shook her head. "Unbelievable." she muttered, running over and began to scale the shelves with ease. 0 jerked awake, looking around in near-panic. When 7 came over the side, she tried to scramble away, but there was no where to go.

"It's okay, you don't have to be afraid." 0 tried to speak, but she couldn't, as usual, with her voice. She shook her head in frustration. "Why'd you go running off like that?" 7 asked gently. 0 stood, putting her hands in front of her and holding them, keeping her arms straight as she stomped forward robotically, swinging her arms in an arc.

"Uh. . . a Beast?" 0 shook her head, repeating the action before crouching low and staring about fearfully before looking at 7 again. "A. . . Machine?" 0 shrugged and nodded, standing and holding her hands above her head, wiggling her fingers as she brought them to the ground.

"Oh, the thunder? It reminded you of a beast?" 0 nodded and shrugged. _'Close enough.'_ she thought. "Come on, its time to come down." 7 coaxed, heading for the edge and jumping down onto the next shelf. 0 looks over, steeling herself before jumping. She jumped a little to far, however, and caught the fourth shelf up and swung there wildly, scrambling her feet till she got on.

Finally getting a leg up, she pulled herself up and looked back down. _'That would have hurt.'_ she winced, then felt determined. _'But it's not the first time I've had to leap and hope.'_ she went up to the edge of the shelf 'wall'. Grabbing it with both hands, she hopped off the shelf, riding down it like a firemen's pole. When she was a few inches from the ground, she pushed herself away from it.

She expected to tumble onto the ground, but instead, she felt something wrap around her and tumbled onto something soft. 'Something' was 9, and 0 hopped off quickly, taking a few steps back. She yanked on her hood uneasily, pulling it over her optics. 9 got to his feet and ruffled her hood, causing her to jump back.

"Is you ankle okay?" 0 looked up at 7 as she jumped down. Holding up her right leg, she moved it around and hopped in place. Peering around 7 towards the Catalog room, 0 spotted something. . . familiar. Walking slowly past, almost as if unaware of her actions, 0 walked the short distance and lifted it carefully in her hands. It was the drawing of the Source that 6 had made.

She ran her finger lightly over it, tracing it, before turning at the footsteps. Holding it up, she tapped the center. "That's a drawing that 6 made of the Talisman." 0 raised her stitched eyebrows at the name. She tapped it again, sweeping her hand wide to take in the whole room and building.

[Why do you need it?] clicked 4.

[Because, I do. It's for my mission, okay?] 0 clicked back.

[Did the Scientist tell you?] clicked 3. 0 flinched back as if struck.

[. . .yes. . .he did. . . please? I'm running out of time. . .] 0 finally answered, before looking down. She didn't like talking of her Creator; it made her feel guilty and sad and useless. She couldn't healed him. . . .

[We know where it is,] 4 started hesitantly, [but I'm not sure if 9 or 7, especially 7, would do with you just taking it. Is there anything we can do to help?] 0 shook her head slowly, looking up at her taller friends.

[No, I'm sorry. I have to start it, but you'll all have to help finish it. Don't worry, I'm here to make things right.] 0 clicked, feeling certain that this was what she had to do. 3 and 4 clicked and flashed to eachother, turning away on purpose to keep their conversation private. 0 took the chance to glance around the Library. It was huge, with many nooks and crannies and other places to hide.

And, of course, books. Shelves and shelves of books! To learn from, to read for fun, even empty ones with blank pages, to write in for yourself and make your own stories. There weren't as many of this last kind, but they were there all the same, if you looked. She smiled when her eyes alit on a book she remembered well.

On one of her few stops here over the years, this book had always been a favorite. It had many fairy tales, impossible things like magic and brave, fighting heroes, princesses awakened by a trues loves kiss -whatever a kiss was. Wandering towards it, she pulled it open and started to read a new story.

She always had trouble with pronouncing the words, but she kept trying. This one was about a lonely Artist who could see things that would happen tommorow, and the sister he didn't know he had, who knew how to Heal the broken hearts of the families with loved ones that had died. Seemed interesting enough, so, 0 started to read it.

тнє тαℓє ѕтαятє∂ ωιтн тнє αятιѕт тнαт єνєяуσηє тнσυgнт тσ вє ¢яαzу, ιη¢єѕѕαηтℓу ѕ¢яιввℓιηg αвѕт_яα¢т αятωσяк αη∂ gσιηg ση αвσυт тнιηgѕ тнαт ωσυℓ∂ нαρρєη ιη тнє ƒυтυяє, тнαт нє нιмѕєℓƒ кηєω нσω тσ ℓєα∂ тнєм тняσυgн. ησ σηє яєαℓℓу вєℓιєνє∂ нιм αη∂ мαηу тнσυgнт тнαт нє ωαѕ ¢яαzу._

_ƒαя αωαу, нιѕ ѕιѕтєя, тнє нєαℓєя, нα∂ ℓσѕт ωнαт ѕнє ∂єѕρєяαтєℓу ηєє∂є∂; тнє ѕσυя¢є, αη∂ ωιтнσυт ιт, ѕнє ¢συℓ∂ ησт тαкє тнє ƒιяѕт ѕтєρѕ тσ нєαℓ. ѕнє нα∂ нєαя∂ σƒ тнє αятιѕт, αη∂ ∂є¢ι∂є∂ тσ мαкє тнє ℓσηg тяιρ тσ gσ ѕєє ιƒ нє ¢συℓ∂ нєℓρ нєя. ѕнє ∂ι∂η'т яєαℓιzє тнαт тнєу ωєяє вяσтнєя αη∂ ѕιѕтєя, вυт σηℓу кηєω тнαт нє ηєє∂є∂ нєℓρ. нє ηєє∂є∂ ѕσмєσηє тσ ѕєє нιм ƒσя мσяє тнαη α мυмвℓιηg, ¢яαzу αятιѕт._

_нє ∂ι∂ кησω ωнєяє тнє ѕσυя¢є ωαѕ, нα∂ вєєη ∂яαωιηg ιт ƒσя ѕσмє тιмє, вυт ѕнє ∂ι∂ ησт gσ ℓσσкιηg ƒσя ιт яιgнт αωαу. ιηѕтєα∂, ѕнє ωαѕ ¢σηтєηт тσ αѕѕιѕт тнє αятιѕт, ℓєαяηιηg αвσυт нιм αη∂ αвσυт нιѕ ƒαя-ѕιgнт; тнє αвιℓιту тσ ѕєє тнє ƒυтυяє. нє нα∂ α gяєαт вυя∂єη α¢яσѕѕ нιѕ ѕнσυℓ∂єяѕ, вυт ¢συℓ∂ ησт ρυт тσ ωσя∂ѕ ωнαт нє ѕαω αѕ ωєℓℓ αѕ нє ¢συℓ∂ ∂яαω ιт._

_ѕнє нєℓρє∂ нιм, gєттιηg ραρєя αη∂ ιηк, ѕтσρριηg тнє мєαη тσωηѕρєσρℓє ƒяσм ∂єѕтяσуιηg нιѕ αят αη∂ тαυηтιηg нιм. σηє ∂αу, тнσυgн, ѕнє нα∂ тσ вι∂ нιм ƒαяєωєℓℓ αη∂ gєт тнє ѕσυя¢є. ѕнє ƒєℓт σ∂∂ ωнєη ѕнє ρяєραяє∂ тσ ℓєανє, αѕ ιƒ ѕнє ωєяє gσιηg ℓєανє ѕσмєтнιηg ιмρσятαηт вєнιη∂, вυт кєρт ρα¢кιηg. тнє αятιѕт ƒєℓт тнє ѕαмє ωαу._

_ƒσя тнє ƒιяѕт тιмє ιη α ℓσηg тιмє, ѕσмєσηє нα∂ ѕєєη нιм ƒσя мσяє тнαη α мυттєяιηg, ¢яαzу αятιѕт. ѕσмєσηє нα∂ ѕєєη ωнσ нє яєαℓℓу ωαѕ, вυт тнαт ѕσмєσηє ωαѕ ℓєανιηg, ρяσвαвℓу ƒσяєνєя. αѕ нє ωαт¢нє∂ нєя ƒαℓℓ αѕℓєєρ, нє тσσк συт α ƒяєѕн ριє¢є σƒ ραρєя αη∂ ∂яєω α ρι¢тυяє σƒ тнєм тσgєтнєя αη∂ нαρρу, ℓαυgнιηg αт ѕσмєтнιηg. ιт ωαѕ αℓмσѕт αѕ ιƒ нє ωєяє ѕтαη∂ιηg тнєяє ωαт¢нιηg._

_ѕ¢яιввℓιηg α мєѕѕαgє αт тнє вσттσм, нє ωαιтє∂ ƒσя тнє ιηк тσ ∂яу вєƒσяє яσℓℓιηg ιт υρ αη∂ тυ¢кιηg ιт ιηтσ нєя вαg, нυммιηg υη∂єя нιѕ вяєαтн. ιη тнє мσяηιηg, αƒтєя ѕαуιηg тнєιя gσσ∂ вуєѕ, тнє нєαℓєя ѕтαятє∂ тσ ѕιηg α ѕмαℓℓ ѕσηg. тнє α¢нє ѕнє нα∂ ƒєℓт ℓαѕт ηιgнт ωαѕ gєттιηg ѕтяσηgєя, αη α¢нє ιη нєя нєαят тнαт яєƒυѕє∂ тσ ℓєανє. тнє αятιѕт ƒєℓт ιт, тσσ, αη∂ ℓιѕтєηє∂ ƒяσм тнє gαя∂єη ωαℓℓ αѕ ѕнє ѕαηg, нєя νσι¢є ѕσƒт αη∂ мєℓσ∂ι¢ ση тнє вяєєzє._

"αѕ ι ƒℓу αωαу, ƒяєє σƒ αℓℓ му тяσυвℓєѕ,

σηє тнσυgнт яєтυяηѕ тσ мє,

'ωну ¢αη'т ι ѕтαу, נυѕт σηє мσяє ∂αу?'

ι нανє му נσв тσ ∂σ, вυт ι ωιℓℓ αgяєє,

ιт ¢αℓℓє∂ мє вα¢к тσ ѕσση.

∂σ ησт ωσяяу, му ƒяιєη∂,

тнιѕ ιѕ ησт тнє єη∂,

ι ρяσмιѕє тσ яєтυяη σηє ∂αу,

єνєη ιƒ ιт'ѕ α нυη∂яє∂ ∂αуѕ σя уєαяѕ,

ι ѕнαℓℓ ¢σмє вα¢к тσ нєℓρ ∂яу уσυя тєαяѕ.

ι ѕнαℓℓ яєтυяη σηє ∂αу,

тσ нєℓρ нєαℓ αℓℓ уσυя тяσυвℓєѕ αη∂ ωσяяιєѕ,

ι ρяσмιѕє тнαт, αѕ ι ƒℓу вα¢к тσ уσυ, αℓσηg ι ѕнαℓℓ нυяяу."_ ѕнє ѕραяє∂ α ѕιηgℓє gℓαη¢є вα¢к, ¢αт¢нιηg α gℓιмρѕє σƒ нιѕ мєѕѕу мσρ σƒ вℓα¢к нαιя αη∂ мιѕмαт¢нє∂ єуєѕ, тнєη тυяηє∂ αη∂ яαη, нєαят ƒιℓℓιηg ωιтн ѕσяяσω. тнє αятιѕт ƒєℓт тнє ѕαмє, αη∂ тяιє∂ тσ ѕιηg ιη нιѕ σωη, тυηєℓєѕѕ ωαу._

"ση¢є α υρση α ѕυммєяѕ ∂αу,

ι мєт α ηι¢є ρєяѕση.

ѕнє ∂ι∂η'т ∂єѕтяσу му ∂яαωιηgѕ,

αη∂ ѕнє вєℓιєνє∂ ιη мє.

ѕнє ℓιѕтєηє∂ ωнєη ησ σηє єℓѕє ωσυℓ∂,

αη∂ ѕнє ¢συℓ∂ ℓιƒт тнє нєανιηєѕѕ ƒяσм му нєαят,

вυт ησω ι ƒєαя тнαт ι ωιℓℓ ѕℓιρ ιηтσ тнє ѕнα∂σωѕ,

υηтιℓ ѕнє яєαρρєαяѕ.

ι gυєѕѕ ι ωιℓℓ нανє тσ тяу αη∂ нσℓ∂ συт,

υηтιℓ ѕнє ƒℓιєѕ вα¢к,

ση ωιηgѕ σƒ ѕιℓνєяу ωιη∂,

ѕσ υηтιℓ ωє мєєт αgαιη, му ƒяιєη∂."_ тнє ωιη∂ ¢αяяιє∂ тнє ѕтяαιηѕ σƒ нιѕ ѕσηg тσ тнє нєαℓєя, αη∂ ѕнє нα∂ тσ ѕтєєℓ нєяѕєℓƒ тσ кєєρ ƒяσм яυηηιηg вα¢к. αѕ ѕнє ∂ιѕαρρєαяє∂ ιηтσ тнє ωσσ∂ѕ, ѕнє ℓσσкє∂ вα¢к αт нιѕ ℓιттℓє нσυѕє ση¢є мσяє, тнєη- - _-

"HEY! You listening?" shouted a voice, interrupting the story that 0 could see in her mind. Jumping, she bunched her hands into fists and spun around to see 7, 9 and the Twins. 9 had the Talisman in hand and held it up. She dropped her hands to her sides, leaning forward slightly.

"This is the Talisman. Its very dangerous, though, if used wrong. So, its important to be careful and not touch the symbols, okay?" 0 nodded, eyes focused on the Talisman. She needed it, and if she could find 2, she could find the rest of them. She had to Heal them. . . she couldn't fail again. She _wouldn't_ fail again.

_Heal_. . . .she looked into 9's optics, staring intently, as if she were looking at his soul; which, essentially, she was. The intensity was great, and 9 looked away after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck. He had felt weird, as if she had stared through his soul.

0 now understood better why he was so reluctant to give it to her. The Talisman had done things to take his -thier- family away. But she could bring them back with it, too. 0 placed a hand on his shoulder, looking up at him with understanding. She wished she could still speak. . . of course, it would make things easier, but. . . she couldn't. She'd given up speaking for a reason, and for now. . . .

Gently taking the Talisman from his grasp, she tried to mime out something. The Talisman taking her soul, then her soul coming back to her through it and the rain. 7, 9, and the Twins watched with confused amusement and worry.

Was their new family member mental? "I don't quite understand, but. . . I think you need to hear the story." said 9 slowly, as if she wouldn't understand. She shook her head, glancing around until she saw something. A small inkwell and a few pieces of paper scattered about. Nothing to write with, though. . . 0 spied a small, fluffy down feather on 7's skullmet.

Without hesitation, she leapt forward and pulled the feather off before running towards the inkwell. Dropping to her knees and sliding some, she grabbed a piece of paper, dipped the pointy end of the feather in and started to write in neat, even rows on the paper, scribbling vague, messy picture bits next to it. Shoving the used up paper at 9 as he came over, she kept writing on another.

_'2, 8, 5, 6 and 1, spirits gone to sky,_

_Up above, water falls, brings to life,_

_Need the Source, bring back, bring Them back,_

_Rope, needle, thread, cloth, Source and knife.'_

That was on the first page, with shaky, abstract numbers of each written out bigger here and there, seemingly at random. 7 and 9 looked at eachother before taking a look at the next paper thrust at them.

_'Use Source to Heal, need to Heal,_

_Fix mistakes, give new chance,_

_Must awake, must awake,_

_Pain is bad, cannot feel_

_for to much longer.'_

They still didn't understand why she needed the Talisman, but was she injured, somehow? In a way that she couldn't heal it herself? "Why do you need the Talisman? What are you going to do with it?" asks 9, while 7 waved the first paper around a bit. She was exhausted from searching for so long, and this was to much to process right now.

_'Heal, to Heal,_

_To Heal myself, to Heal you all,_

_Then I can rest and fall_

_Asleep, with happiness to keep.' _

0 scribbled out next, then reread her words. "_'Fall asleep'? What?"_ she thinks, handing the paper over regardless and reaching for a new sheet. "Quit talking in riddles already! What does this even mean?!" 7 shouts, thoroughly frustrated. 0 flinched, almost knocking over the inkwell as she tried to escape 7's anger. 0 didn't like it when they yelled at her.

_'Sorry, sorry, truly sorry,_

_What did I do this time?_

_I cannot help who I am,_

_Please don't be mad at me,_

_What did I do wrong?'_

0 scribbled, before getting back to her mission. 7 felt a little guilty now. She hadn't meant to yell at 0. 0 seemed to be the oldest of them all, but then again, why? Why did she act like such a little kid? Was it like the Twins? Older physically but younger mentally? Or something else?

_'Find the Others, find all Others,_

_Heal, Heal, Heal, Heal, _

_I have to Heal all,_

_Where are they? Where are they?'_

0 handed over this last one and looked up expectantly. Unzipping her front partway, she pulled out a thin, brown strip of leather. It had a pouch and a knife sheath on it. Using the last of the ink on the feather quill, she scribbled a list of items on the smallest piece of paper before tucking it away into the small pouch. Putting the leather band around her waist, she used a small buckle to fasten it tight.

It was a belt, with a pouch on one side and a knife holster on the other. Tucking the Talisman into her front, she was glad that they don't notice her doing so. Zipping herself up quietly, she returned her attention to them again.

"So, you're here to Heal us? Are there more than nine of us out there?" questions 9 finally, looking down at the small Stitchpunk. 0 shook her head, pointing back to the first paper, and 9 realizes something, a chill going down his back.

0 had listed the Others in order of who died, first to last. Did she mean that she was going to bring them back? But if that was so, how? And what did healing have to do with it? 7 seemed to be making a similar conclusion.

"How do you know about the Others? Did you meet them?" she asks, pointing to the first paper. _Scribble,_ _scribble,_ _scribble . . . ._

_'Met 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6,_

_Last one I really miss._

_1 is mean, 2 is kind,_

_3 and 4 make me feel happy inside,_

_6 understands me, and me him,_

_Bring back, bring back._

_All must be brought back. . . .'_

0 felt heartache well up inside her. She had met 6 in the First Room. She had understood him, and him her, when the others didn't seem to. He had left, but she had stayed to help 9; when the Scientist would get to him, at least. But she had left, failed her duty. . . _'No!'_ she thought to herself. _'You have to push it away! This won't help anyone thinking like that!'_ she reprimanded herself sharply.

"How can you bring them back? We. . . we saw their souls go into the sky before it started to rain for the first time." asked 7, but 0 only stared blankly at her.

'Rane?' she scribbles out, tilting her head in a confused, curious manner.

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><p><strong>Me:I think that I'll end it here. Please review! Reviews are like hugs for me!<strong>

**Cat Beast: When do I come in?**

**Me: Quiet! Later, okay? **

**Both: 'Bye!**


	4. Cat-Beast Visitor and 2 is Back

**Author's Note**

**If I owned '9', 6 wouldn't have died.**

**Hello again! I would like to thank my other buddy, '**hrhowling**', for also reviewing on this, so thanks, buddy! I hope y'all enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4:<strong> Cat-Beast Visitor and 2 is Back

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><p>After explaining what 'rain' is to 0, and the fact that she stubbornly insisted on calling it 'Sky-Water', they weren't able to coax much more information out of her. Instead, they decided to bunk down again; for awhile, at least. 0 could barely sleep though. She didn't want a nightmare to plague her, as usual. So, she got up and wandered around.<p>

Near the entrance, she found a roller skate, with a few lengths of rope and a few other odd bits and bobs, like wet candles and springs and bits of metal. _'Hm, so they use this to bring back supplies? That could be handy for me.'_ thinks 0, pulling on it slightly to see how well she can heft it. Not that bad. Could come in handy. Picking her way outside the Library, she began to list more of what she would need.

_'Rope, thread, needle, my knife, my armor would be nice, but probably not such a good idea, um. . .whats that?'_ she peered through the early morning mist at something. It was moving, a surface on it glinting in the late afternoon light. It finally showed itself fully, and 0 stepped back slowly.

It was the Cat-Beast, fixed up to its former 'glory', but. . . it didn't have claws as large or long, had a bird cage for it's chest, and it's one eye was. . . green? And was that a . . . .a black '**C**' on its bone forehead? 0 smiled widely, leaping forward towards it. Startled, the Cat-Beast growled quietly, getting low to the ground in a crouch. It had actual shutters in it's eye, like a Stitchpunk, and they were wide with fear.

[Cat! Cat, its me, 0.] she clicked and flashed happily, jumping a bit so that she landed on the Beasts head. 'Cat' grabbed at her, placing her back on the ground gently, lowering its whole body until it was almost laying down, on eye level with 0.

"Hello, 0. How ya' been?" the voice was feminine and young. Small ears, made of brown burlap and wire and placed where they would have had she been a creature of flesh and blood, perked up from Cat's head, angled toward the smaller creature.

[Pretty good, but you should go. I don't want 7 to try and cut you head off again.] 0 replied, rubbing affectionately on the bony muzzle. Cat shuddered.

"Yeah, that wasn't very. . . .pleasant. . . I think. . . well, uh, how's you mission coming along?"

[Pretty good, actually. I managed to find the Source. Now all I have to do is find the others and bring them back.] Cat made a snorting sound.

"Yeah, 'all'. Hey, I was able to scout around the Factory Ruins like ya' wanted. Only a few Spiderbots here and there, but nothing too dangerous. Just let me know when I can join the fun." said Cat, blinking fast two times, winking. 0 gave Cat's snout a final rub before stepping back.

[Okay, Cat, until then. Then you can hear my real voice and we can be a true family, everyone together. 'Bye!]

"Goodbye, small friend." Cat returned, standing and nuzzling her head gently against 0, purring softly. 0 smiled and rubbed her hand over her muzzle again. Turning, Cat ran off into the late afternoon sprinkles and out of sight. Smiling, 0 hurried back inside. She hadn't seen her buddy for a week. She'd missed her. Shaking her head real quick, 0 sat just under the overhang the Library made, leaning out just enough to feel the soft, misting rain on her face and hands.

She closed her shutters, enjoying the feeling. Opening them again, she scooped up a little water from a small puddle on the ground. Looking more closely at it, she gasped, stumbling to her feet and letting the water splash to the ground. It had glowed green. . . .it had_ glowed green_!?

_'The mission, the mission. I have to stay focused on the mission. Remember when the Sky-water first fell?'_ she thought. Scooping up some water again, she cupped her hands close to her chest and leaned over, casting the water into slight shadow and peered into it. A small whisper, in her mind maybe, she could just hear it. . . . . . . 2! It was 2's voice!

_{ . . .the water inside. . .pool. . .the water inside. . . }_

She could just barely make out the words, but it was clear enough what she had to do next. Letting the water splash back down, she hurried inside. She had to do this _now_. It didn't take long for her to find some rope and a small plank of wood, but she woke up 9 in the process.

"0? What are you doing?" he asked tiredly, stifling a yawn. Freezing, 0 looked at him guiltily. She couldn't very well mime anything out while she was lugging a plank of wood around, so she shrugged and carried on her way. Losing her grip on the rope, she tried to get it back. She only managed to lose both it and the plank, however, and sighed silently before reaching down to pick it back up.

9 helped her lift up the plank with a small sigh. 0 eyed him with a warily before shrugging it off and leading the way. "You're a real mystery, you know that?" 9 stated suddenly. 0 gave him a baffled, curious look, raising an eyebrow and shrugging.

"What I mean is, you just come out of no where, and we don't even know where you've been doing or what you've seen. . . or even your purpose out here." 0 tilted her head, mouthing 'Healer'. Lightly pulling the plank, she looked over her shoulder, walking backwards. It didn't take her too long to find the pool. 9 peered at the bars at the far end sadly.

0 put a comforting hand on his shoulder before pointing towards the bars and raising a stitched eyebrow. "This is where we had 2's funeral. We floated him down that way," 9 pointed towards the bars. "I always get kinda depressed when I come over here. It was. . ." 9 trailed off, looking blankly at the ground as he remembered what had happened.

A loud splash brought him back to the present. 0 was climbing on the plank of wood, one end of the rope tied to the leg of a chair and the other wrapped around her belt. Using her hands as paddles, she made her way towards the bars. 9 grabbed the rope, ready to pull her back.

"Hang on, what are you doing?" he called. 0 looked back at him, waving her arms frantically towards the bars, before pointing to him and placing a loose fist over her heart with a smile. Giving a quick salute, she paddled the rest of the way in, quickly engulfed by shadows.

"H-hang on! You can't just go in there!" shouted 9, beginning to pull the rope in. A soft plop noise, and 9 ended up pulling the rope in all the way. "Oh no." he muttered, looking around for another plank of wood. More splashing noises came as he searched frantically around, unable to find anything big enough to hold his weight properly.

Even more splashing brought him back to the pool, and he was horrified to see 0 half carrying and half dragging 2's body behind her. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" he shouted at the top of his mechanical lungs, lunging towards her. 0 jumped and spared him a terrified look before running. She was quick, but hampered with the weight of dragging the limp, older Stitchpunk.

9's shout had awoken 7 and the Twins. 7 immediately tried to tackle 0, who managed to skid to a halt and ran a different way through and around and under books and tables and overturned chairs, slipping into crevices only she could fit into.

Actually managing to give them the slip for the time being, she hurried towards the exit. If she could bring him back before the others caught her . . . 0 skidded to a halt as the Twins leapt in front of her. 0 was barely an inch from the entrance, but she couldn't go forward.

[0, what the heck are you doing?!] demanded 3, looking at 2 before looking at the offending Stitchpunk.

[0, please, whats going on?] 4 clicked a bit more calmly. She, too, looked at 2 sadly before returning her attention to 0.

[Pl-please, let me through! I'm g-going to Heal him! The S-source-! H-heal-!?] 0 clicked, panic and urgency messing up her message. The Twins stared at her for several long moments before stepping aside. 0 nodded a quick thanks, but instead of stopping directly outside, she dashed off to the side and behind a statue; out of sight.

7 and 9 ran in a few moments later, panting. "Where is she?" growled 7, looking quite angry and even a little hurt. "I'll cut her to bits." 9 shook his head slightly at her words, but a flash of familiar bright green brought their attention outside. 9 suddenly felt light-headed and dizzy, and stumbled a bit with a groan. He probably would have tripped if 7 had grabbed his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked, and 9 nodded slowly, the light-headedness going away, as well as the dizziness.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just dizzy." he replied. He felt a bit more tired than before, too, but didn't mention that. The green light went away with, accompanied by a **BOOM** of thunder in the distance. They froze in a tense silence, which was soon broken by a happy shout, the voice eerily familiar.

"You've done it, my dear! I knew you could!" the voice shouted out, followed by a laugh, and the others ran into action to see what the Creator was going on! Skidding on the wet ground, they raced to the other side of the statue and stopped dead, mouths agape. They could have been statues themselves, they were so still.

There before them stood 2, alive and well, standing upright and trying to pull 0 to her feet. 2, had had been killed by the Machine . . . . was _alive_!? 2 looked up, a grin stretching across his face when he saw them. He waved them over joyfully.

"Come on over, already! Don't be a stranger!" 3 and 4 immediately crowded around him, tugging on his shoelace and tapping on his metal head cover. 9 and 7 were more hesitant, and approached slowly. 7 was suspicious.

"How do we know that he hasn't been reanimated? Like before with the Seamstress?" she asked warily, gripping her staff tightly. 2 frowned at this but smiled brightly again.

"I know that you saved both me and 5 before we would have been crushed by the Metal Behemoth, when 5 first lost his eye before we found the Sanctuary." replied 2 evenly and with a touch of worry. He again tried to lift up 0, but she was limp, unresponsive.

"I guess she really did bring you back. . . but, how? How did she do that?" asked 9, crouching down to feel 0's chest. Her heart was still beating, and she was still breathing. . . 0 blinked her optics open and groaned silently, trying to get up. 2 tried to haul her to her feet again, but she couldn't hold her own weight very well.

0 looked at 9 in an tired way before making an effort to stand on her own. "Are you sure that you should be standing yet? It must've been draining." 2 pointed out, as he was supporting most of her weight; which, admittedly, wasn't much.

She shrugged, finally settling with sitting down instead of leaning on the Inventor. Unzipping herself, she tucked the Talisman inside before zipping it back up. "How did she bring you back?" asked 9. The rain was still coming down, but no longer as gentle sprinkles; it was beginning to pour heavily.

"Perhaps we should take this inside." 2 pointed out gently, trying to pull 0 to her feet. "Come on, 0, get up. We should probably tell the others now, right?" 0 looked at him as defiantly as she could in her drained state, shaking her head adamantly. 2 raised a stitched eyebrow.

"Well, why not?" he asked, in an almost playful manner, ruffling her hood. 0 glared at him, crossing her arms and shaking her head again, moving her mouth as if trying to speak; which, of course, she couldn't. 2 frowned at this.

"You can't speak? You could in-" 0 immediately covered his mouth with her hand, glaring at him dangerously. 2 easily pulled her hand off and stood again, nodding with an understanding look.

"Fine, fine, maybe later. Whenever you're ready, then we'll tell. Can we go inside now?" his tone was joking on the end, as he, with assistance from 9, dragged the small Stitchpunk to her feet, but getting inside was another matter. It wasn't that 0 was resisting, her legs seemed to be suddenly defective. She couldn't seem to coordinate them or move them quick enough to avoid small stones, stumbling every other step.

2 eventually whispered to 9 to just carry her in. 9 obliged, scooping her up into his arms. She struggled a little the whole way, but didn't give to much trouble. They all wrapped up in cloth and blankets to help them dry off and warm up while 2 explained a little of whats going on.

"I can remember what happened after the Machine took my soul," 0 and the others winced. "up to when 0 brought it back. 6 was right; we were literally trapped inside the Machine. We were able to see a little of what was going on, but not much. The Machine was after us because, with a soul, or even a part of a soul, it can fuel itself and anything else forever; theoretically." he added, seeing the Others looks of horror.

2 looked at 0, who was sitting to his right. She nodded slightly, just enough to be seen. "That's why the Cat-Beast didn't just kill either of us outright, I believe; me and 9, I mean, when we first met. Long story short, when 9 used the Talisman on the Machine, our souls were sucked into it, then released later. When we all went into the sky, and we brought the rain, well . . . our spirits went looking for our physical forms through the rain, but-"

"Then why didn't you come back when it first rained?" questioned 9.

"I was getting to that." he returned with humor. 0 was cuddled up at 2's feet, trying to stay awake. The others, even 3 and 4, had never seen her relax so quickly around someone like that, or even at all. Even when she had visited them in the Library, 0 had never stayed for more than a few days, and had stayed up high on a shelf in sight of the door, armor on and staff ready.

"The Scientist put our souls into us through the Talisman; and since we had been released from it, we had to be brought back through it. Which is where 0 comes in. She knows how certain things with the soul and spirit work, but I should let her tell you what when she's ready to."

"But she can't speak." 7 pointed out bluntly. 0 looked up and shrugged, moving her mouth again, as if she were talking, and a bit of sound came out. A small sigh, but no one else heard it. 0 froze, then closed her mouth and curled up again with the blanket. She almost looked. . . scared.

"I believe that she disconnected her voice-box. Something happened early on, when I first met her, and she couldn't speak. A certain wire or something, but she can safely take it out, to an extant, so that she can't speak. I'm not sure why she's kept it that way, but I'm not gonna argue with her." 2 finished, reaching down to ruffle 0's hood again.

0 didn't react this time. "Do you know what her purpose is?" asked 9, looking down at the sleeping Stitchpunk. 2 shrugged.

"I would've thought that she would've given you some hint, at least. Has she done anything to communicate?" replied 2, gently prodding 0, who only rolled over in her sleep.

"Well, she did act some stuff out, and she wrote a few messages . . . she mentioned something about Healing." answered 7.

"Well, its been a long day. I think that we should get some rest for now and continue this tommorow." said 2, ending the conversation. He was right; it was getting dark outside. They made a pile of blankets in 9's room for 2, and they moved 0 to 7's room again. The Twins went to their room, and everyone was soon fast asleep. Except for 0.

She was asleep, but was in the dark, shadowed place again, that was always familiar yet foreign, in her dreams. A tall figure, more than three times her size probably, loomed out of the darkness. He was see-through and ghostly green. A see-through, green '8' stood out from his right shoulder, floating in place. She trembled slightly, unsure whether to fight or flee, as it approached.

* * *

><p><strong>Me: Well, that's that. Just another part of the mystery of 0. More questions than answers, especially now. Please review! Reviews are like hugs for us! *goes off to see what loud noises are*<strong>

**Cat: Yay, I'm finally in!**

**0: Yep, you're in. Ugh. . .*leans against Cat tiredly***

**Cat: She's just tired, don't worry. Please review and keep on Readin', folks! *shakes head, getting hyper and bouncing about* I always wanted to say that!**

**9: Calm down, already.**

**9, 0, Cat, and Me: 'Bye!**


	5. Dreams, Friends, Last to the End

**Author's Note**

**If I owned '9', there would be a TV series where they all come back and have adventures**

**Hello, again! Wow, almost 5,000 words! That's a lot for me. I wanted to break this into tow chapters, then I thought, 'What the heck?' and voila! Giant chapter for you guys to enjoy.**

**I thought I'd do a piece on how 0 first awoke. Little side note, I have trouble telling how tall the characters are, so look at this next thing, please. thanks. :-)**

**1, 2, 5, 7, and 9 are in my 6 to 6 and a half inch range, ****3, 4, and 6 are 5 inches tall, ****8 is between 8 and 9 inches tall. ****And 0 is 4 inches. Man, I made her tiny.**

**The song is an edited combination of '**Silhouette**' and '**Lonely Lullaby**', both by '**Owl City**' ****Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5:<strong> Dreams, Friends, Last to the End

* * *

><p>The Scientist, Timothy "Timber" Raine, looked down at his little creation fondly. He really hoped that this would work. If not, then Life was over and the Machines had won. It was a Stitchpunk; he thought that his 7-year-old granddaughter, Hope, would have appreciated the name. The thought saddened him, so he hurried on with his work.<p>

This Stitchpunk was a little smaller than he planned to do with the others, but should work none-the-less. Hopefully. He had used bits of scraps, since this would be the prototype, so it wasn't the most skillfully crafted. _She_, he thought, _this one is to a be a girl_. Satisfied with this, he looked over her a final time to make sure everything was in place before he gave her his soul.

She was, unfortunately, made from small, semi-random patches of fabric, so it looked like she'd been torn apart and sewn back together again; three times over.

Her body was a soft, thin, light blue fabric, her left arm was dark blue denim, her right arm white and black striped. Her right leg had this same fabric, and her left leg was the same as her body. Her head was dark blue denim, the optics dull, faded silver in color, a patch with thin, dark brown yarn sown on to help hide the roughly sewn bit where he had gathered the head fabric in the back.

The yarn would come down to just below her shoulders, the one fine point on her so far. She looked like something that Hope would have drawn up, almost. Tim hadn't given her a number yet; he wanted to be sure that this would work before giving them their signature names.

Her hands were roughly made, at best, bits of wire for fingers coming out of metal palms. Her feet were little better. Her front wouldn't be able to close up, at first, but he could probably remedy that later. Her optics would be slanted pretty badly, rather than the round, pupil-like look he wanted, but he was improving on that.

The only other flaw was that he tied her cloth off just below the elbows and knees, revealing her metal 'bones', something that he would have to avoid with the others and correct in the blueprints he made. If this worked out there, there would be 7 more of these little scraps of Life, to rebuild and carry Life through the end of humans.

Carefully tying her wrists up into the device, Timothy hooked up the wires into her and put the Talisman into the mechanism. Pulling up the mask, symbols the same as those on the Talisman. The lights jumped out, and he grit his teeth. It didn't hurt as much as he thought it would, but it felt as if it were stinging him on the inside, draining away all of his energy. The unpleasant sensation faded when the lights stopped.

But now he was having a close up look at the floor. Slowly pushing himself up, he rubbed at his forehead for a moment and tried and get his bearings. He had collapsed; that much was apparent. But had it worked? He managed to stand, stumbling a little as he stepped up to the device.

The Stitchpunk was motionless; feeling her chest, there were no signs of life. Sighing, he untied her and went to set her on the table. A bomb rattled the building and he dropped her on the floor. Dropping down to his knees and covering his head with his arms, Timothy waited until he could little more than the usual sounds; the far-off clomps of Metal Behemoths, gunfire and shouts and screams and wails of humans.

The prototype Stitchpunk lay in a heap where he'd dropped her. Gently scooping her up, he sat back down, trying to puzzle out what went wrong, but something was distracting him.

A bit of air, running over his fingers, with a steady rhythm. Placing the Stitchpunk in his other hand, that's when he felt it. A barest bit of breath, of a heartbeat! It was coming from the Stitchpunk! It'd worked! He gently turned her over so she was on her back in his hands, cradling her.

"Hello, little one. Are you alright?" he asked quietly and tentatively, as if speaking too loud or at all would destroy the fragile Life in his hands. The little creature stirred, shifting slightly before curling up, a small mumbling sound coming from her.

". . .'m tired, Papa. . . ." was what Timothy could make out, and he nearly dropped her again. His granddaughter had called him 'Papa'. . . . _Calm down, Timber, breath, this just means that it worked_. he thought to himself, gently placing the little one down on a book, off to the side of his immediate work station but not out of sight. He was tired, but he had to keep working.

In fact, he had already began work on the next one, and, as the first had been a success, he wasted no time. Both had drawings of their inner and outer workings, and hopefully, this next one would turn out a little better. He decided that this one would be '**1**'. He had finished up on the inner frame, and was stitching together some of the fabric in place, when he jabbed his finger on the right hand deep with the needle.

"Ouch!" he yelped, before covering his mouth with his other hand. There was only the shuffling of cloth, a few quiet _clink_s, like a metal ring hitting the ground repeatedly. Timothy rubbed his temples, placing the hand with the needle jab on the table. There was more rustling, then something was touching his hand. He looked down in time to see the little Stitchpunk, wrapping up the heavily-bleeding-finger with a strip of leftover light blue cloth.

Tying it off, she looked up and met his eyes; shrinking back, she backed away, crossing her arms over the opening on her chest protectively, looking at him with fear. She moved her mouth, but the words were garbled beyond recognition and accompanied with a high-pitched tone. She tapped her throat in confusion, and Timothy chuckled lightly, extending a hand slowly.

"Its okay, now. I think that I can fix that. We can only hope." The little one looked at his hand, before cautiously moving onto it. He lifted her up slowly, until they were on eye level, and she shrank back again, looking curious yet afraid all at once, staring into his eyes intensely. For a moment, Timothy thought that she was burning a hole right into the remainder of his soul.

Her eyes darted away, looking behind her briefly to see the Life-Giving device, before looking down and opening up the cut in her fabric, looking at her inner workings. She looked back up at Timothy with a questioning, curious gaze, and tried to speak; but it was heavily garbled again.

"Hang on just a second. Let me take a look at you real quick." He lowered his hand, and she jumped down when it was still four inches up; her height; she stumbled and fell, but got to her feet and looked up at him expectantly. Getting a small light and magnifying glass, he pushed the fabric aside to get a look at her voice-box. It turned out to be just a wire knocked out of place, and he fixed it up.

"There, that should do it, I hope. How about now?" he asked, moving his hands back to allow her some room.

"S-sound?" she froze, tapping at her throat for a moment. "Sound, sound, sound. . . . . sssssooooooooooouuuuuuuuunnnndddd." she stretched the word out until it nearly snapped. Her voice sounded young and female; soft and free. Timothy chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, yes, sound. But there are more words than that." he replied, looking over his jabbed finger. It might leave a scar, but at least it was bandaged. More rustling and clinks brought his attention to where he had been working on 1. The small Stitchpunk had taken the needle and was pulling a scrap of fabric closer, glancing over at the piece of paper that showed 1's outer cloth form.

Timothy tried to stop her. "Now now, let me take care of that." she shook her head, crossing her arms and mustering up a defiant glare. Turning her back, she started slowly stitching the pieces together, getting a little quicker as she got the hang of it. Timothy watched her carefully. If she jabbed herself, she would be worse off than him. Hopefully, this wouldn't go South.

After a few minutes, she stopped, looking about for more fabric. Holding up a tiny scrap of the pale fabric, she asked, "More? Ih-is th-there . . . m-more?" Timothy nodded slowly, taking mental note of this behavior. She seemed more like a young child; not what he had been expecting. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, maybe something more adult, but . . . oh well.

"Yes, yes, there's more. Thank you for helping me." she nodded shyly, before something caught her optics. It was the papers with her pictures. Walking over, she started looking from the drawings to herself, lifting the papers sometimes to see them better in the dim light. One picture showed how she was meant to be; whole pieces of fabric, optics that weren't slanted, hands and feet that actually looked like hands and feet.

It was the very first sketch of a Stitchpunk, and he had based her off of it. She frowned at it, tapping a spot where a small heart had been sketched, tapping the same spot on her chest. The words 'Stitchpunks; Last Hope for Life'. Touching the word 'Hope', she whispered it aloud.

"Hope. Hope, hope, hope . . . I am . . ." she paused, slanted shutters widening to the point that they were no longer slanted in realization as she looked over the first words. 'Stitchpunks; Last _Hope_ for Life'.

"I am Hope." she whispered, smiling softly, a warmth filling her chest. Turning to Timothy, who was rifling through a box, she walked over and gently grabbed at his shirt sleeve.

"Papa?" he turned to her, startled, a sad, forlorn expression flickering across his face before he smiled softly at her. "Yes? What is it, little one?" he asked, sitting back down in his chair, setting a small roll of white leather on the table.

Touching her chest with both hands, specifically the left side, she looked up at him happily and said, "I am Hope. Is that okay, Papa?" she asked. Timothy froze, sad despair settling over his features. His shoulders shook, and he hunched over, tears starting to pour down his cheeks as he sobbed. Hope stared at him, unsure how to fix this, but really wanting to.

Walking cautiously up to him, she laid a hand on his his, looking into his eyes. Looking a little harder, she thought she could just hear something, just see something. Her shutters widened; she was suddenly seeing something that wasn't, _couldn't_ be there.

_An image of a small, human child, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes, sitting on a rather worn light blue blanket. looking up with curiosity and eagerness. She was sitting on something green and soft-looking, holding up a picture with colors on it. It looked like two people, one big, one small, one with crazy gray hair and the other straight, dark brown hair. They were holding hands and had bigger-than-life smiles._

_"Look at this, look at this! Is it okay, Papa?" she asked. "Its great, Hope. Come on, lets go in now, okay?" replied Timothy's voice. **'Why?! Please, oh Lord above me, why did you give her my granddaughters voice? Why does she want the name Hope? What have I done to deserve this?'** this was also Timothy's voice, but more echo-y and filled with sadness and hopeless despair._

The small Stitchpunk blinked, and the image was gone. She had felt happiness and love, attached to this image, as well as sadness, longing, confusion and despair, but the childs voice. . . the childs voice sounded like her own. Hope wasn't entirely sure what she had seen, but somehow, she'd triggered these feelings in her Papa, her Creator, and she wanted to heal his pain.

Looking up at him, she stroked his hand, trying to think. Maybe a . . . song? A song. . . what _was_ a song? Something kept bugging her about that word, and she felt something in her, something warm that was trying to escape. so she let it out and . . . sang. Soft and kind and gentle. Timothy stared at her, sobs quieting as the song went on.

_"Symphony, of sil-ver tears,_  
><em>I'll sing to you and sooth the ache in your heart.<em>  
><em>Overcast, these gloomy nights may wear on,<em>  
><em>But we'll hold fast, because it's darkest just before the dawn.<em>

_You sang your princess fast asleep,_  
><em>'Cause she was your dream come true,<em>  
><em>Oh don't worry, I know you loved her, true.<em>

_But now those lonely lullabies,_  
><em>Will just dampen your tired eyes,<em>  
><em>Because you can't forget her.<em>  
><em>Because you, can't, forget, her.<em>

_I know you're tired of waking up in tears_  
><em>'Cause you can't put to bed these phobias and fears<em>  
><em>I'm new to this grief I can't explain<em>  
><em>But I'm no stranger to the heartache and the pain<br>_

_The fire you began is burning us alive_  
><em>But I know better than to leave and let it die<em>

_I know you feel like a silhouette, asking every now and then_  
><em>"Is it over yet? Will I ever feel again?"<em>  
><em>You're a silhouette chasing rainbows on your own<em>  
><em>But the more you try to move on, the more you feel alone<em>

_But don't worry, I'll stay here for you_.

_You sang your princess fast asleep,_  
><em>'Cause she was your dream come true,<em>  
><em>Oh don't worry, I know you loved her, true.<em>

_But now those lonely lullabies,_  
><em>Will just dampen your tired eyes,<em>  
><em>Because you can't forget her.<em>  
><em>Because you, can't, forget, her.<em>

_I will sing with the blowing breeze,_  
><em>'Cause it can be a bitter world and we'd rather dream.<em>  
><em>And we'd rather dream."<em>

She finished, looking up into Timothy's face, still stroking his hand gently and kindly. He smiled a little, reaching down to gentle stroke her yarn hair.

"Thank you, Hope. I think that together, we might be able to start Healing our world." hope tilted her head. She didn't know yet of the war going on outside her home. She didn't realize that she only got a half piece of a soul. She didn't know that she was destined to be 0; 0 To Heal Us.

* * *

><p>0 was in the dark, shadowed place again, that was always familiar yet foreign, in her dreams. A tall figure, more than three times her size probably, loomed out of the darkness. He was see-through and ghostly green. A see-through, green '8' stood out from his right shoulder, floating in place.<p>

And she couldn't run. Her legs weren't working right, everything from the waist-down completely unresponsive to her demands for motion. She couldn't even feel them. She trembled slightly, unable to fight or flee, as it approached.

She finally recognized the figure. It was 8. She had never properly met this Stitchpunk, but she had helped to create him. "Hello, 8." her voice didn't sound rusty; it sounded garbled, as if she'd been eating gravel. 8 raised a stitched brow but said nothing at first. He already thought she was really odd.

"I can't talk for long." 0 nodded in response. "My body is under some rubble at the Factory; or whats left of it." 0 wasn't sure if he meant his body or the building. She was hoping for the building.

"You'll have to be extra quick, though. Spiderbots gettin' close to findin' me." 0 nodded vigorously, peering around him. 6 had always been there before. . . where was he?

"Where's 6?" she asked, looking up at the larger Stitchpunk. 8 opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He seemed uncomfortable, avoiding her optics, shifting his feet, clasping and unclasping his hands.

"Couldn't make it." he replied. 0 narrowed her shutters some, trying to look directly into his eyes. "Tell me why." she got out, her tone holding no room for argument. 8 sighed in defeat.

"He's fadin' a little faster than the others, and we don't know why. I was told not to tell ya 'cause then you'd go runnin' for him instead of doin' it in order; if its not done in order, it won't work." he added the last bit quickly, seeing the desperate look on her face. She nodded slowly, in a defeated way.

"Don't worry, I'll do it right. I'll do it right." reaching out and taking his larger hand for a moment, before she felt her entire world slip into green-tinted darkness.

* * *

><p>0 jerked awake, sitting up quickly and blinking. It was dark; the sky was just starting to get light. Carefully pulling off the blankets, she attempted to stand. Her legs were a little shaky, but functioned properly now. Beginning to walk from the bedroom and down the hall, she realized that she was limping. Deciding to ignore it, she continued on her way.<p>

After a bit of rummaging around, she located her armor and starting tying the now-dry pieces of cork and metal, taking off her belt and slipping in inside next to the Talisman in her inner workings. Positioning her red goggles over her optics and putting the cat skull on her head. Picking up her knife-staff, 0 slipped the leather band around her right wrist and tightened it.

A few metal plates and strips of cork were all that were left when she took off into the pre-dawn light. Around her body, arms, and legs was her full armor of cork and metal, but on her shoulders, wrists, and ankles there was only cork bits. She would have to be careful, but she could run fast now. Soon, she was out of sight of the Library and approaching the Factory Ruins.

She crept up on it as silently as she could. Cat and 8 were right; there was still Spiderbots crawling about. Some were literally crawling on too few legs, most had broken an eye, and all had busted up bodies There were at lest ten of them crawling around the wreckage, and 0 wasn't sure what to do. Something clanked and growled behind her.

Turning, she saw Cat, cloth ears pinned down out of sight. She passed right by 0's hideout, stalking towards the Spiderbots with a growl, making mechanical screeches and acting as if to strike them. Leading the way, Cat brought them all to the far end of the Factory, until they were out of sight. Cat lumbered back, stalking carefully towards 0's hiding place.

"I know you're there; there is no use hiding from me." Cat growled lowly, slowly poking her muzzle around the side of the metal can. 0 tapped it carefully, and Cat showed her head more fully.

"Phew, it _is_ you. I got all the Spiderbots at the far end looking for bits of glass, but they'll only stay occupied for so long. Are you ready?"

[I-I b-b-believe s-s-ooo. R-r-read-d-d-dy t-to r-r-r-un?] 0 replied with a flash and click of her shutters. The flash wasn't nearly as bright as it should've been, the message warped, barely understandable. Cat tilted her head with concern.

"That click was a little. . . _shaky_. You okay?" 0 nodded. "Well, okay then. I found two of those Stitchpunk guys, but I don't think their alive. Com'on!" Cat darted her head forward and lightly took 0 in her mouth before the 'punk had time to question why there were two Stitchpunk bodies; and why she had only been visited by one. Trotting off as silently as she could, Cat stopped at about the middle of the wreckage. A large sheet of metal nearly hid 8's body from view, but he looked uninjured otherwise.

"Should I try and get us away from here? I don't think having that thing used around Spi'bots is a good idea." Cat pointed out, easing the heavy sheet metal up and gently grabbing 8 by the arm, pulling him out before dropping the metal back. It clanged and echoed loudly in the stillness. For a moment, all was silent, and then-

"RUN!?" shouted Cat, stuffing 8's body into the cage where her ribs would be and put 0 on her neck before she took off; and 0 could see why. The Spiderbots were dashing towards the metal as fast as possible; she counted about 14 before realizing that Cat had slowed. There was a sort of device just ahead, like a record player with a large, protruding, fancy mega phone attached.

In front and a little to the right of it, just ahead of them, was 5's body! Cat lowered her head and neck, and 0 clung to a built-on handhold, leaning out as far as she could. Just managing to catch the bigger Stitchpunks' arm, she held tight as Cat suddenly pulled her head back up. She could barely lift him, let alone hang onto him! His body swung back and forth with each rapid step, and 0 dropped her knife-staff and grabbed his wrist with both hands and heaved up.

He was half on and half off of the swift-moving Beast now, feet dangling and clanging against the bars of the rib-cage. The knife-staff was still attached to her wrist with the leather strip. Cat swerved to a stop when they were out of sight, panting as she looked back the way they came.

"If you want to do it -which I'm sure you do- now's the time." Cat said tensely, lowering into a crouch to allow her friend to slide off onto the ground with 5's body. 0 nodded to her, carefully reaching underneath her armor to unzip herself and bring out the Talisman. Cat brought 8 out of her rib cage and setting him gently on the ground.

Retreating a short distance away, Cat watched with curiosity, glancing the way they'd come every now and then. With the Spi'bots, you can never be too sure about anything. When the Talisman came into view, a faint green glow rippled through the air in front of the two limp forms. As she pressed the combination in -first the loop, then the horseshoe, then the support beam- the ripples became more solid, until 5 and 8's ghostly forms stood there.

8 and 5 looked at eachother with surprise, but moved quickly. Just before the lights burst out, 0 pointed it at 8's body and 8 jumped in th way as the rays flew forward. Grabbing onto him, he gave 0 one panicked look in Cat's direction before he dissolved into the light. The lights grabbed at 8's body, but it didn't move. Only when the lights died off were signs of life noticeable.

8's chest moved up and down rhythmically, as if he were asleep. 0 sagged with relief and the large energy drain. She wanted to crawl into a hole and sleep. But she couldn't. Not yet. Looking back over at 5, she saw him staring in fear with his one eye at Cat, who was looking back the way they'd come, ears pricked. She glanced their way before turning back.

0 waved her hands in front of her, getting 5's attention. Pointing to the Talisman and then to Cat, then to 5 and then to herself and back to Cat, and 5 slowly nodded. Moving so that she was lined up with 5's body, she pressed the combination again, 5 diving in the way as the lights jumped out. His eye widened in surprise, then he dissolved and the lights channeled themselves into his body.

When the lights faded, he, too, showed signs of life. But 0 didn't see them for several moments as she found herself suddenly having a close up look on the ground. Her staff was twisted painfully underneath her, the hand-guards digging into her open-zipper insides. She nearly collapsed again when she first tired to stand, black filling her vision as a wave of dizziness crashed into her.

Groaning aloud, she stumbled forward a pace, placing a hand to her head. Picking up the dropped Talisman, she slid it in next to her inner workings as she stepped forward to check on the two Stitchpunks. Zipping herself shut, 0 jumped at a sudden screech in the distance. Then, Cat was charging at her, whisper-shouting gibberish, green optic wide with fear.

Scooping 8 onto her back, and 0 and 5 at the base of her neck, Cat ran as quick as she could. 8 was quickly awakened by this, grabbing on automatically, looking around frantically as he realized that he was_ on the freaking Cat-Beast with a smaller Cat-Beast riding_. 0 lifted her skullmet and goggles quickly, waving her hand for a moment to stop him form doing something stupid.

8 nodded after a moment, peering at her face before pointing and shouting out, "The stupid thing is headin' for the trench!" grabbing on more fully onto Cat. Cat hissed a little, and 0 turned to see that 8 was correct. Grabbing on tight as she could to Cat with ine hand, she pulled at 5, who had yet to awaken, closer to her, until he was draped, feet and head towards the ground, before her.

Cat didn't slow when they reached the trench; if anything, she sped up, aiming at the broken bridge where 6 had died. 0, of course, didn't know that this was where he died, only that the bridge was gone.

And she couldn't shout for her friend to stop. Cat leaped nimbly across what was left of the bridge, not even pausing as she leapt from the last intact piece and launching herself -and her riders- out into empty space.

Falling . . . 0 was falling. . . falling next to 5's limp form, the two falling into the mist that obscured the bottom of the trench. 0 let out a not-so-silent scream as the plunged downwards before all went dark.

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><p><strong>Me: Okay, first off, I came up with the abbreviation "<strong>Spi'bot**", so no stealing! You want to use it, PM me first for a permission slip! **

**Cat: Yeah! Or I'll come and get you!**

**Me: Also, rib-cage refers to the birdcage on Cat that is where her ribs would be if she were and actual cat. Pfffft, puns. And I didn't even realize it until I finished the chapter during editing, so Ha!**

**Cat: You killed her. . . you made me kill her!**

**Me: *swats at her* Shut up!**

**Cat: Well? Is she alive or not?**

**Me: Can't tell you, would be a spoiler.**

**Cat: *snarls and stalks off***

**Me: ****Please read and review! Also, I'm sorry this is late! blame homework and housework eating up my time. R&R! 'Bye!**


	6. To Bring Us All Back, part 1

**Author's Note**

**If I owned '**9**', certain deleted scenes would be in the film **

**Hello again . . . . . um, enjoy? I dunno, sorry . . . 'M tired *yawn* . . . . . . plus the possibility that I have strep throat. First mom, then my little bro, and now I might have it . . . but I get more fanfic time for less chore time done. So it all equals out. But I missed Thanksgiving dinner at grandmas. . . . . :-( Oh well . . . . Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6:<strong> To Bring Us All Back, part 1

* * *

><p>5's shutters popped open at the distorted scream. He quickly realized that he was falling, a Stitchpunk coated in metal next to him. Shouting in alarm, he grabbed at the Stitchpunk, bracing himself for the impact of the ground. Positioning himself quickly so that his back was to the ground and the small Stitchpunk curled up on his front, he closed his shutters tight before realizing something.<p>

Shutter**_s_**? As in, _more_ than _one_? **_What_**? He didn't have time to think about this further when they suddenly hit something. It wasn't the ground, it was water! A stream, at least a foot deep, flowing in the middle of the trench. 5 held his breath and latched onto the small Stitchpunk as he paddled upwards. the current was slow and sluggish here, and he took a moment to search for the bank.

Suddenly, he spotted something. It was striped. With a black key and messy yarn. "6! Oh Creator, 6!" 5 cried out, before he remembered that 6 hadn't been brought back yet. Paddling towards the fallen artist, 5 realized that the Stitchpunk in his grasp was floating partially. The second thing he realized was that it wasn't just any Stitchpunk, it was 0!

"Of course it's 0." 5 mumbled to himself, trying to grab onto the metal beam that 6 was heaped on, "who else would know how to bring us back." finally getting a good grip, he shoved 0 up onto it before hauling himself up. That's when he realized that there was shouting coming down from up above. Peering through the misty fog, he could just make out a large from scaling the rocky side.

"I'm telling ya'; this is a stupid idea." grumped an unknown female voice.

"Do ya mean helping the others?" snapped a more familiar voice.

"8! 8, we're alright!" 5 shouted up, finally catching sight of the large Stitchpunk. But something was wrong. 8 was perched on the Cat-Beast! After his initial jolt of alarm, 5 recalled what 0 had been trying to tell him before his spirit went back into his body. Besides, if the Cat-Beast had been trying to kill them, well, 8 would be attacking, not riding it.

8 seemed relieved when he saw them, and the Cat-Beast turned its head, revealing the black '**C**' on its forehead and one shuttered, green eye, cloth ears pricked.

"Thank Creator! I thought you guys were goners. Find 6 yet?" 8 shouted.

"Yeah, he's right here." 5 shouted back. There was a garbled groan, and he turned to see 0 rousing slowly sitting up and spitting out water. Opening her shutters, she looked around tiredly before locking eyes with 5. 5 placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" 0 nodded, coughing a little and spit out a little more water. Glancing around, 0 picked up her staff and held it out in front of her, frowning at it before reaching out a hand to touch it; but she missed it and grabbed at the air to the side of it instead. Touching her left optic, her eyes widened in realization and she nodded to herself slowly.

"Is something wrong with your optic?" 5 asked in concern. 0 nodded slowly, before touching her left optic again and pointing towards his face. Specifically, the left side. 5 frowned a little.

"Is it my patch? I'm pretty sure that. . . ." 5 trailed off, utter shock on his features. His patch, the leather patch covering the spot where his missing optic was. . . was gone. And in its place, his left optic was back. As if he had never lost it to begin with.

"Wh-what in the . . . but I-I thought that. . ." 5 stuttered out, stunned in his disbelief. 0 smiled weakly at him, patting him on the shoulder before turning to Cat and 8, who by this time had waded into the stream.

"If my legs start sparking, I'm blaming you guys." she huffed, trying to elevate her body above the water. 8 rolled his shutters before taking a good look at 6. If he were human, he would have paled visibly. 0 crawled over to 6, pushing him lightly onto his back and shifting the key to the side.

"Is he okay?" he asked, and 0 glared at him. There was anger there, not general anger, but focused, hardened by something specific. Shrugging, 0 turned to Cat and clicked to her, but there was hardly any light in her flash, the click barely audible. Cat shook her head.

"I can't understand it anymore. Sorry." 0 looked downcast, then looked up as rain started to fall. Grabbing at 5's arm, she pointed to where 8 was perched on Cat's back.

"You want me to climb up there?" 0 nodded. "But what if, what if it tries to kill me?" 5 countered, and Cat hissed quietly.

"If I wanted any of you dead, I would have killed 0 in the first place and you wouldn't be here. Just get on." grumped Cat, sounding tired more than angry or frustrated. 0 shoved him lightly, and 5 gingerly climbed up on the Beasts' back. Cat stopped him from going to 8, though. 5 cringed when her large, wet clawed hand came towards him, but she merely shifted him to the 'saddle' that was just behind her head.

5 grabbed at one of the handholds tight. The rain was pounding down, and 0 gestured wildly upstream. Cat, ears pricked, looked that way, her passengers clinging to whatever they could, and she shifted back a few paces until she was a foot away from the beam. 0 pulled out the Talisman, and slowly input the combination. There was the barest shimmer in the air.

Before she put in the last one, 0 stood and pointed it at 6's body slowly. As she pressed the last one and the parts popped out, the air rippled again, and 6, hunched nearly double as if in pain, and nearly entirely transparent, appeared in front of his body.

He was drooping, a very light shade of ghostly green, number on his back rather than sticking out, trying to keep his shutters open. Upon seeing 0, he tried to straighten, just as the beams of light leapt out.

Instead of dissolving, 6 seemed to be thrown back before disappearing, the lights flowing into his body; and straight out the other side. 0 seemed to panic, nearly dropping the Talisman as it jerked repeatedly in her hands. What she did next was entirely unexpected.

Holding on with her left hand, 0 plunged her right hand into the path of the beams of light, emitting a garbled shriek as the lights seemed to grab and tug at her hand.

6 reappeared. He wasn't as transparent, glowing a little brighter, his number actually sticking out from his back like it was supposed to. Shutters widening at what 0 was doing, he immediately leapt into the lights path, dissolving into it as the others had.

The lights flowed into instead of through 6's body, and 0 just managed to pull her hand out of the way before the lights died and the pieces popped back. 0 collapsed just as 6 bolted upright from his previous position on his back. Crawling over to 0, 6 grabbed the Talisman from her limp hand before pulling her into a hug. His mismatched optics sought out and found Cat, 5, and 8.

6 seemed completely unperturbed by the large Beast as he called out, "We n-need to g-get out of here!" 8 muttered under his breath about that being the only full sentence 6 had ever made, while 5 called, "Why?" a rumble of thunder echoed down the trench. Cat whirled towards the sound, creating a small wave that slapped into the metal beam 6 and 0 were perched on.

"Fl-flash fl-flood! W-we h-have to g-g-get out!" Cat whirled back around and carefully moved forward, so as not to make anymore waves, and 6 managed to push the limp Stitchpunk up to 5. Cat forcibly took the Talisman from him, placing it in the slot on her chest before gently scooping 6 into her mouth and turning for the side of the trench. 6 cried out when he was scooped up, but stopped thrashing when he realized that he was parallel to the ground in the things mouth.

"Thit'll thee thine. Thop thashing!" exclaimed Cat, unable to talk quite right with 6 in her jaws. 8 and 5 held on for dear life as the rumbling grew louder and closer as Cat scaled the slick, rock and earth side of the trench. Cat had just hooked her claws into the top when the flash flood hit. The water rumbled barely a yard beneath them. 8 stared; he was the closest and most exposed.

Almost dragging herself up, Cat stood and began to slowly lope away, ignoring 6's stuttered protests and 8 knocking roughly on her metal side. When 5 finally got the courage to speak up, he lightly tapped her head to try and get her attention.

"Um, excuse me? Uh, where are you taking us?" he asked meekly. Cat slowed from a lope to a trot, using one clawed hand to gently take 6 from her mouth, setting him on her forehead long enough for the artist to scramble down beside 5, hugging his friends side tightly. 5 hung onto him and 0, who had yet to wake up. Cat returned to her loping pace, going a little faster than before.

"We're going to. . ." she trailed off, lowering her head in almost a shameful way before straightening. 6 and 5 had to grip harder on the handholds to keep from slipping.

"Sorry. We're going to the remains of the. . . . . . .Machine. . . . so 0 can help that last guy. . . ." Cat replied hesitantly.

"How do you know any of this? Or 0? Why are you even on our side?" demanded 5, meekness forgotten for a moment at the mention of the Machine. Cat stumbled mid pace and seemed to stall out for a moment before continuing.

"It's a long story, and one that can be told in full later. All you need to know is that 0 is my friend and she needed my help. She helped me to heal; its my turn to help her." Cat non-answered. 6 clung to 0 a little tighter with one arm, curling his delicate pen-nib fingers around a hard metal hand hold. 5 had an arm slung around his two friends protectively while he clung to a different handhold.

"So why are we going back to the Machine?" questioned 8, but this time, 6 answered. "To bring back 1. So 0 can bring back 1." 5 and 8 were a mix of surprised and stunned. 6, with full sentences and not a single stutter? Having a friendly Beast giving them a lift was already wearing down their nerves, so this on top of it. . . . .

"He's right." commented Cat. "And there it is." she didn't sound happy, or angry. She sounded scared and resigned. The Machine, it all its broken glory, loomed before them, dwarfing the Beast that dwarfed the Stitchpunks. And Cat was, admittedly, afraid. Petrified, even.

She knew that this thing created her, that she should, technically, obey it and serve it, but she also knew that this thing was corrupted and had done awful things. Made_ her_ do awful things, that she regretted so much right now. That's one reason why she wanted to help the Stitchpunks. She wanted to help set things right.

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><p><strong>Me: I didn't want another monster chapters, so this one is gonna be cut in half again. chapter 7 will be out really soon, I promise. In two days, tops, if everything goes according to plan.<strong>

**Cat: I do not like the Machine, but I am grateful to be here. . . I have mixed feelings about the Machine.**

**Me: I can see that. Could you guys please review? I'm beginning to feel lonely. . . .*puppy dog eyes*  
><strong>

**Cat: *rolls optic***


	7. To Bring Us All Back, part 2

**Author's Note**

**If I owned '**9**', then 0 and Cat would be in the TV series**

**Hello again! The song this chapter is '**Somewhere Out There**'. ****Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7:<strong> To Bring Us All Back, part 2

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><p>Skidding to a halt on the muddy ground, Cat lowered herself to her 'belly' and allowed the others to climb off.<p>

6 was valiantly trying to carry 0 alone, but she was too heavy for him. 5 helped him ease her onto the ground. Cat nudged at her friend, whimpering a little. 5 started taking off the armor while 8 stared Cat down, not entirely convinced that she wouldn't spontaneously attack and try to reawaken the Machine. Cat _did_ have the Talisman, after all.

6 helped to ease it off, sighing with relief when he saw her chest rising and falling. 5 began to slow as he removed the armor from her limp form. something seemed . . . .off. rather than the patchy fabric pattern that he knew 0 had, there were whole pieces. In fact, she looked a bit more like 9, like her hands, feet, optics, even the zipper. 9 was the only one with a zipper.

"8? Does something about 0's appearance seem. . ._ off_, to you?" 6 asked, looking up at the larger. 6 pulled off the cat skullmet and red goggles, holding them up and peering at them thoughtfully before setting both aside. 8 glanced at 0, but having not really seen her until now, he couldn't really say. He merely shrugged, turning back to Cat, who was nudging at 0 with a clawed hand.

6 was seemingly unbothered by Cat, while 5 jumped or cringed whenever she moved. 6 took 0 by the shoulders, gently shaking her. "C-come on, Z-0, its time to wake up." he whimpered softly when she didn't react. 5 patted his shoulder to try and comfort the clearly distraught artist.

"5? C-can water h-hurt us?" 6 asked, looking up with concern. 5 shook his head. "Not that I know of." he replied. Cat looked down sorrowfully at the armor-less Stitchpunk.

"She looks so. . . helpless. . " Cat finally voiced. 6 nodded slowly. "I mean, she doesn't have anything to . . . defend herself with. Even if Stripes claws are a little on the small side, he still has something." Cat rambled on, pawing at the ground slightly, ears drooping. 6 nodded in sullen agreement. The rain had eased off to a light misting, barely noticeable.

Cat perked her ears and turned her head, then her whole body, towards a shout in the distance. Stepping back from the others, she strained her ears to try and recognize the sound as good news or bad. Not to far away, 5, 6, and 8 saw something come around some of the rubble. It was the others! The Twins, 7, 9, and 2!

"2?" 5 gasped out, hardly daring to hope that his mentor was there. Leaping to his feet, he started running towards them, despite 6's desperate cry of "Wait!"

"2! 2!" 5 shouted, barreling into his mentor and friend, hugging him tight. 2 hugged him back, laughing happily before letting go and taking a step back. 9 stepped up to his friend with a smile that turned into a shocked look.

"Your optic . . ." 9 got out. 5 laughed a little nervously, feeling at his left optic. "Yeah, not sure how it got there." The Twins tackled him to the ground in a hug, and 7 gently pulled them off before helping 5 up. The Twins turned their attention to 8 as he lumbered up, standing just off to the side, as if unsure that he would be welcomed. He was quickly proved wrong as 3 and 4 leaped on him and eagerly gave him hugs.

Lightly brushing them off, 8 turned to the others. "We need to find 1." he pointed out. As they turned, however, 9 and 5 tensed, 2 froze, 3 and 4 latched onto 8 again, and 7 darted forward. Cat had taken a hold of 6, holding him back as he shouted with fear while 0 stood shakily, the Talisman in her grasp. She was facing a pale shape on the ground in front of her.

7 was nearly at Cat, and 5 ran after her, shouting, "7, stop! Don't attack it!" 9 , 2, and the Twins stared at him as if he was insane, even as they ran forward with 8 to try and help. Cat froze when she saw 7, green-tinted optic wide with fear and surprise. She didn't move, frozen. When 7 went to strike her, she dodged, still holding 6 in her mouth, who cried out with urgency and fear, trying to point towards 0.

Meanwhile, 0 was looking at 1's spirit, who stood before his body, looking at her in a questioning way before jumping in front of the beams of light , dissolving as they went into his body. The lights stopped, the pieces popped back into place, and 0 collapsed without a sound as 1 sat up, rubbing his head before looking down at his left hand, stunned to see that it wasn't mangled and broken as before.

Over where 9 was arguing with 5 about why they should just let 7 take out the Cat-Beast, he suddenly was smacked at high speed by an intense wave of dizziness, like a few times earlier that day. He groaned and stumbled back, hand to his head and shutters closed. 2 placed a steadying hand on the young Stitchpunks' shoulder, but the dizzy spell only lasted a few moments.

Standing shakily, 1 walked over to 0's limp form. 1 was grateful, worried, and curious about and towards this Stitchpunk. But more than that, confused. For multiple reasons. Looking over at the others, where 5 and 8 were standing between the others and a Cat-Beast, still trying to convince 7 that it was harmless. 1 checked for some sign of life from the completely limp 'punk while 5 finally talked 7 into not attacking/killing Cat.

Cat placed 6 gently on the ground, and the artist took off running towards 0, dropping to his knees beside her, inadvertently blocking 1's way. He gently scooped her up into a hug, practically picking her up into his lap, holding her tight. He was trying to keep from sobbing. The others slowly clustered around. 9 put a hand on the distraught artists shoulders.

"Whats wrong, 6? She's okay, isn't she?" he asked softly and tentatively. 6 looked up at him with sorrow and confusion and the tiniest glimmer of hope.

"Th-this wasn't supposed to h-happen. I-I s-saw it, and i-it wasn't s-s-supposed t-to . . . to end like this." he whispered the last part, pressing his face lightly into 0's hood. He was shivering, his body shaking from the cold rain that had drenched his fabric, conducting some of this into 0's limp, unmoving form.

"What did you see, 6?" asked 7, crouching beside him, a hand on his shoulder.

"V-vision . . . s-saw th-this in a vision. . . " he mumbled, looking up to meet her optics before looking back down. "Sh-she w-would br-bring us b-back. . . but she would be okay!" 6 raised his voice into a shout, anger and confusion clear. Looking down at 0, he kept shouting, a drastic change to his usual timid, quiet voice.

"Why?! Why did you leave me! You didn't have to! You could've brought us back without leaving! Come back! Come back! Please, come back. . . " 6 whispered out the last part, voice losing all anger, holding only sadness and despair. Hugging 0 harder to him, he sobbed. 5 got on his knees next to the sobbing artist he considered his brother, wrapping him in a hug, his arms going around 0, too.

"She w-was my sister. . . ." 6 whimpered, burying his face into her hood again. 5, who's arm was pressed against 0's back while hugging 6, felt it. A bit of movement! 6 was shivering too much and too hard to tell that she was okay!

"6, she's okay! 6?" 6 looked at him, looking hopeful yet cautious. Carefully, 5 eased the small Stitchpunk out of his brothers grasp. 0 was very light, even for her size; much lighter than she should've been. Feeling her chest, he confirmed that, yes, her heart was beating, and she was breathing.

"Sh-she's okay?" asked 6, placing a hand on his sisters leg. 5 nodded, and 6 sagged with relief. 2, 9, and 7 gave small, quiet cheers, and Cat joined in, 1 and 8 were silently glad, and the Twins hugged eachother. 6 seemed to go limp, too, leaning against 5 and hugging 0 at the same time.

"You okay, 6?" asked 2, leaning down to put a hand on his shoulder. 6 looked up at him, shutters threatening to slide shut. He nodded, mumbling out, "Tired, weak, stay close to 0. . . family back together. . . ." he got out, before going completely limp, optics slipping shut. For a heart-stopping moment, 5 thought that he'd suddenly died; it took only a moment to see that 6 was merely exhausted.

All of the Stitchpunks were back together again. The family was whole again.

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><p><em>At the Library, 3 days later. . . . . . .<em>

6 sat next to 0, looking down at her. 0 hadn't woken up yet since she had collapsed in the Emptiness after she brought back 1. 6 sighed, running a hand through his yarn hair, making it messier than it already was. He hadn't slept at all since then, either, for various reasons. The others, excluding 1 and 8, were concerned for the artist.

They couldn't convince him to do anything else, even draw. He'd practically refused to touch the ink. Not even Cat was of much help. They had her chained in a far corner of the courtyard of the Library to a statue. 1 and 7 flat out didn't trust her, 6 refused to leave 0, and the others were too wary of her to try and defend her further, so, chained to a statue in every kind of weather it was. She didn't fight it. She knew that if she didn't do what they say, 7 would kill her.

Cat had tried talking to him about, but not even the Beasts presence or words scared or convinced 6, who actually spoke with her as if she were a Stitchpunk like them! 1 found the idea to be very disgraceful, and made the others a bit more worried about his mental health.

6 started humming, shutters slowly slipping shut before he crumpled completely, flopping onto his back on the floor next to 0's bed, snoring softly. When 5 looked in on them later, he smiled, tucked a blanket around him, and left.

_. . . . .The Next Day. . . . ._

0 woke up slowly, and she still felt exhausted behind belief. Her right hand felt numb, red-hot needles digging into the joints when she tried to move her fingers. Gasping softly, _audibly_, she slowly opened her shutters. Looking around the unfamiliar, darkened space, 0 felt a jolt of panic. Spotting 6 just to the side of her, though, calmed her.

Rolling over a little so that her back was pressed to his, like how they used to, she spread the blankets over him, singing quietly as she drifted off again, not even completely aware of what she was singing.

_"Somewhere out there_  
><em>Beneath the pale moonlight,<em>  
><em>Someone's thinking of me<em>  
><em>And loving me tonight.<em>

_Somewhere out there,_  
><em>Someone's saying a prayer,<em>  
><em>'That we'll find one another<em>  
><em>In that big somewhere out there'.<em>

_And even though, I know, how very far apart we are,_  
><em>It helps to think, 'we might be wishing on the same bright star',<em>  
><em>And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby,<em>  
><em>It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky.<em>

_Somewhere out there,_  
><em>If love can see us through,<em>  
><em>Then we'll be together,<em>  
><em>Somewhere out there.<em>  
><em>Out where dreams come true."<em>

A few hours later, the sun already well up into the sky, 6 woke up to find something warm pressed into his back. He didn't question it at first, only snuggled himself deeper into the blankets, mind to fuzzy from sleep.

When he finally did wake up enough to sit up and look around, he realized that he'd fallen asleep on the floor, wrapped up in blankets. Someone must have covered him when he fell asleep. As for the warmth on his back. . .oh, 0 had must've cuddled up with him in the night. The 'punk in question stirred, sitting up with a small, audible yawn, stretching her arms above her head before finally opening her optics.

She took in the room slowly, tensing up when 6 grabbed her to him from behind in a hug. She turned and quickly returned the gesture. This had been their first, proper reunion in years. Finally pulling apart, 6 ruffled her yarn hair, since her hood had fallen. She swatted lightly at him, before messing up his hair, too. Pulling up her hood to cover her yarn hair, she poked teasingly at his key.

"I'm so glad you're okay. . ." 6 finally said, and 0 nodded in agreement. "Do you think you could stand? The others have been worried. . ." 0 nodded again, and, although shaky, they left the small bedroom into a Stitchpunk-sized hallway, into the main area. With scraps of wood and small nails lying about here and there, as well as some small rocks, one could assume that they had been building something.

9 and 5 were the first they saw, but for a moment, she couldn't tell which was which by looking at their faces, because of the bright light slanting into her optics.

"Its kinda hard to believe, let alone figure out." 5 commented, hefting a bag over his shoulder. It was filled with all kinds of supplies; his old crossbow, needles, a grappling hook made out of fishhooks, and more. 9 nodded in agreement, then caught sight of the artist and his sister. Smiling broadly, he walked over and put a hand to 0's shoulder.

"Glad to see you're awake." 0 nodded in agreement, tensing a little at the touch, a tight, wary smile on her face. 9 brought his hand back slowly, frowning in thought. 0 had a complicated personality, it seemed. 5 came up on 9's other side, smiling as well. He'd seen 0's reaction, so didn't go for physical contact.

Instead, he asked, "So, you're finally up, huh? You feeling okay?" 0 nodded, fiddling with the top of her zipper. 9's frown deepened.

"Is something wrong with your voice-box?" he asked, and 0 tensed again. 6 stood just off to the side, unsure how to interact with his sister and the others like this. 0 quickly shook her head no.

"Is it like the Twins? You can't speak aloud, but with those flashes?" added 5, but 9 cut in before 0 could respond.

"Well, actually, she can, but she didn't do it a lot. She mostly mimed out what she was trying to tell us. That and wrote it down, but it was always. . . abstract. And it rhymed."

"Maybe her voice-box just got a wire knocked out of place. That happened to me once. . . ." 5 trailed off, hand lifted to feel where his patch had been. 0 felt uncomfortable around them. Taking a small pace back, she wanted to just go find somewhere quiet and far away, where she wouldn't be easily found. Catching onto her unease, 5 tried to calm her.

"You don't have to be afraid, 0. Nothings going to attack you." he smiled, and 0 smiled back a little, taking another pace backwards so that she was standing next to 6 again. 9 raised a stitched brow in thought.

"I've been wanting to ask you guys something. How are you brother and sister? I only mean that," he scrambled a little to try and voice his question without offending.

"6 and I are like brothers," 5 cut in for 9, "and 9, too. I've actually been curious about that, as well." he finished. 0 opened her mouth as if to speak, then hesitated and closed it again. 6 put an arm around her shoulders, and she shrugged it off after a moment, taking the hand in hers. She scrutinized it; it was spotless. Not a single drop of ink.

In fact, 6 was completely free of the messy ink stains that normally coated him. Not by choice, though; his body had been washed clean of the messy stains with all the rainfall, and he hadn't drawn anything since.

0 looked at him in a curious, somewhat accusing manner. 6 avoided her gaze. "I didn't want to draw until you woke up. . ." 0 shook her head, reaching up to make his yarn hair even messier. 6 narrowed his shutters playfully at her, tapping her on the zipper before turning and high-tailing it out of there.

"Tag! you're it!" he called over his shoulder, dodging around the piles of wood and bags of nails and other things. 0 stared after in stunned silence; then smirked playfully and ran after him, limping slightly. Before 9 or 5 could say a word, the two were out of sight.

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><p><strong>Me: I'll end it here.<strong>

**6: Why can't 0 talk yet?**

**Me: 'Cause she can't yet. You'll find out soon.**

**Cat: She sang the night before, didn't she?**

**6: . . . . I was asleep. . . . . . .**

**1: 6! Go draw or something. Stay away from that thing!**

**Cat: I have feelings to, you know. *said dryly***

**1: Shut up! You're supposed to be outside!**

**Cat: *rolls optic* Whatever you say, 'almighty' leader. *goes back outside***

**1: *glaring daggers***

**Me: Please review!**


	8. A Brother and a Sister's Song

**Author's Note**

**If I owned 9, there would be a sequel movie where more Stitchpunks and Beasts appear**

**Hello again! Last chapter was dramatic and had so many feels at the beginning, yet was hopeful and fluffy-sweet at the end. Enjoy! The first song is entirely of my creation, so ask before using.**

**The second is an edited version of '**WINDSONG From the film "Mighty Joe Young" (1998)**', and the third an edited-together version of both '**Feels Good At First**' and '**Sing Together**', both by '**Train**', with a few twists of my own.**

**Please enjoy my creativity!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8:<strong> A Brother and a Sister's Song

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><p>0 could't quite catch up to the artist. Every time she would get close, he would jump over or sidestep something, and with her new limp, 0 wasn't quite as agile anymore. Besides that, her depth perception was messed up, anyhow. Almost every time she went to dodge or jump over an obstacle, she would smack into it or land on.<p>

After a few minutes of this, she finally stopped, panting. She was still tired from the event that took place a few days ago, despite the fact that she slept the whole time. Walking as silently as she could, she made her way to the nearest book shelf.

Despite her limp, and the numb, red-hot pin-prickles assaulting her right hand, she started scrambling up, stopping when she was one shelf above the ground. Scooting away from the edge and holding her injured right hand to her chest, 0 coughed a little out loud to make her sure her voice box was working, then sang.

"_Sleeping in the darkness cold, thought to be left behind,_

_Hardly hearing a loving word, or a kind hand to help her up when she fell._

_But now among friends of old, to help battle the harshest cold,_

_To keep company through the long nights, to help protect in the worst fights._

_I'm here to Heal the deepest wounds, from words and blows, too,_

_I'll keep watch and very soon, we'll find a way to start this world anew,_

_This is a Beginning anew, I know its true, not an end, I can assure you._"

She finished off her little melody, unaware of the fact that it had been projected throughout the nearby area nearby. 9, 5, and 7 were looking around to try and see who had just sang, but were unable to. The three of them shrugged and were about to move on when 0 launched into another song.

_"Sing a song, and for a moment_

_You will be visited by the wind._

_Sing a song, and for a moment_

_Dream sweetly of the wind._

_Sleep now until the night is dawn,_

_The wind and the night song, they are there,_

_However the song, my friends, will go on for-eh-vair._

_A song of loss, a song of hope, a song of never giving up._

_To continue on, throughout the night and into the dawn,_

_Listen to the wind, sing sweetly of the wind._

_If you listen carefully enough, you'll hear it sing so, so much._

_Being lost, being found, _

_Flying high in the sky and being stuck on the cold, hard ground._

_So sing your song, and for a moment,_

_Visit with the lonesome wind._

_So sing your song, and for a moment,_

_Dream sweetly of the saddened wind._

_Sleep now until the darkest night becomes bright day,_

_Then we can all sing and laugh and dance and play,_

_And the songs and friends,_

_to the end of all ends,_

_will last forever more."_

This song was hopeful, yet saddening in way, the words sang slowly and almost haltingly. They also seemed to carry a sense of foreboding and terrible and heartbreaking times to come. By now, 7, 9 and 5 located where it was coming from, but not who. As they started to climb up, 6 appeared around the corner and called out,

"0? Sister, where'd you go?" he called. 0 poked her head out from the shelf, smiled and clambered back down quickly. 6 helped her down the last couple of inches. The two then proceeded to get into more mischief as they started messing up eachothers yarn hair and poking around in the supplies lying around. In short, acting like curious little kids.

0 started humming a little tune, and 6 joined. 0 finally started to actually sing, 6 humming along to it. It was a bit more upbeat, this time, a bit quicker without to much pause between the lines, playful joy and bit of hope thrown about in it.

_"Teach me to trust,_

_And I'll teach you to sing,_  
><em>When life keeps stealing your melody.<em>  
><em>Around you I know it'll be okay,<em>  
><em>I will forget everything I thought I knew<em>  
><em>About family. I don't know much, about family.<em>  
><em>But it sure feels good at first to me."<em>

0 sang out, before stopping and gently taking 6's hands, nodding her head in encouragement. 6 glanced nervously at the others before looking down and singing a little bit slower, stuttering a little but returning the melody just fine. The others stared in some disbelief and enjoyment. 1 appeared around the corner, the beginnings of a new staff in hand and a bullet shell hat.

_"I-I'll learn to dance if you pr-promise not to laugh._

_And I end up in a pile of m-messy cloth,_  
><em>From falling over my own two f-feet,<em>

_I'll g-get right back up if you help me,_

_Its been awhile since I've s-seen you,_

_So I'll s-say I'm fine s-so you won't worry."_

1 probably would have stomped forward and stopped them, not to disrupt the music, but to talk with 0. He had some serious questions to ask her. 1 paused, however, and decided to wait. He had heard all of the song so far, and knew that it wasn't singing just for enjoyment; 0 sang to express how she felt and what she saw. And 6 also singing? Next-to-shocking.

6 smiled, suddenly letting out a joyful laugh, he grabbed 0's hands and pulled her into a twirling, hopping, silly dance. 0 squeaked in surprise before laughing aloud, humming the song'a tune again as the twirled about the room, leaping over and ducking under any objects in their path.

_"L-let me take this chance to thank you for the dance," _6 started this time, 0 letting go of his hands and twirling on on one foot before getting dizzy and near-falling with a joyful giggle.

_"If I ever run out of songs to sing, to help take your mind off everything,"_ 0 continued, hopping forward towards 6 and back again, hopping and leaping about just out of her brothers reach.

_"__Just smile, and w-we can-"_ 6 picked up, and 0 interjected with, _"Sit a while with the-"_

_"Starlight in our eyes, and remember the place we met, Moon bri-i-ight,"_ they sang together, and for a moment, it sounded like one voice instead of two voices in unison. They met eachothers eyes, expressions full of fun and mischief as 6 began to chase 0, though at a slower pace, throughout the room again, even weaving between the others, still singing and laughing.

_"Take a close look and soon I bet you'll all finally see,"_ 0 continued alone, looking behind her before running straight into 5, knocking both to the ground.

_"Without eachother we could n-never be ourselves."_ 6 finished, darting forward and tackling the two of them, all of them laughing, even 1, as 6 dragged 0 back and started to lightly noogie her hooded head. She squirmed and laughed, wriggling in his surprisingly strong grasp. She reached up and grabbed at his key, tugging it forward with her left hand.

6 let out a quiet wheezing/gasping sound at the unexpected pressure on the side of his neck, but leaned towards it instead of resisting. He smirked down at 0, who couldn't see it with her hood over her eyes being noogied. He was slightly hunched over her wriggling form, giving him all the more leverage to hold her down and noogie her head through her hood.

6 laughed again, and 0 finally found a way to get some leeway.

Giving an extra-hard yank on the key after a moment of slackening how far out it was, 0 simultaneously elbowed 6 in the ribs. With a wheeze and a gasp, 6 released her to hold his chest. 0 leaped up, bouncing on the balls of her feet. 6, still trying to catch his breath, climbed to his feet, bent over, hands on his knees. 0 edged forwards, tapped him and then ran.

"You're it!" she squealed playfully, and 6, catching his breath quickly, ran after her with a laugh. 0 weaved between the others again, her small size making it all the easier. They chuckled lightly and stepped to the side for the artist. 0, glancing back, tripped and tumbled into a pile of arms and legs at 1's feet. Looking up slowly, she fearfully met his slanted optics.

6 slowed his pace, stopping by 0 and slowly pulling his sister to her feet. 0 ducked behind 6, peeking out with a child-like fear. 6 held his hands backwards around her, eyeing 1 warily. 1 raised his stitched brows at this, both he and 7, 9, and 5 pondering this new behavior. From what anyone had seen of both Stitchpunks behavior patterns alone, what had just unfolded showed how much each trusted the other.

How they each relaxed enough to initiate fun, even if it was only among themselves. 0's completely trusting nature to 6 holding her down before and now to protect her, and 6's sudden, defiant and wary look he was giving his former leader, who he had previously feared himself, standing in the way to keep 0 safe from any possible threats. Something more was at work here, but none of them knew what yet.

0 peeked out at 1, ducked back, then peeked out again, peering with furrowed brows at his hat. Optics widening, she ducked back and covered her hand with her mouth. Standing a little straighter, she whispered, completely inaudibly to the others, even 1, who was barely two inches in front of them. 6's eyes widened and he struggled to keep his mouth shut.

0 peeked out again, focusing on a point behind 1, before her optics widened again and she backed away, face showing utter shock and fear as she recoiled, hand over her mouth, holding one hand out shakily to point behind 1. 6 looked where she was looking, stumbling back in shock, one arm around 0 and the other held in front of him to point, too.

0 ducked her head out of sight, shooting a grin to the others and winking before looking terrified again and peering cautiously over 6's shoulders. The moment 1 whirled around to see what was behind him, fearing the worst, 6 and 0 did the _unthinkable_.

Darting to 1's right, 0 grabbed his staff, and when 1 whirled towards her, 6 darted to 1's left and grabbed his bullet-shell hat. Both allowed themselves a short burst of laughter at 1's expression of shocked anger and irritation before waving goodbye and running, both crossing paths for a moment. After a quick high-five, they split up; 6 going right and 0 left.

"If you want them back anytime today," shouted 6. "You'll have to join us in our play!" 0 finished for him, both glancing back at 1 and laughing once more.

Within moments, they were out of sight, only their quickly fading laughter indicating that they had been there. 1 stared, open-mouthed, before scowling and crossing his arms with an indignant, angered huff.

"The nerve." he growled under his breath, turning on the others sharply, hearing their laughter. His glare was enough to silence 5, who meekly looked away, but 7 was hardly deterred.

"Come on, 1, you can't be too hard on them." 9 tried, shrugging and grinning. 1 glared a little harder.

"They were disrespectful and were not acting their age!" 1 snapped back, running a hand over the knot of fabric on his head. 7 glared back at him.

"6 isn't tucking himself into a corner all alone and 0 isn't the timid, jumpy little kid I first met. They're having a bit of fun and opening up to the group, and you can't just accept that?" 7 challenged, stepping forward to more directly confront her former leader. 1 shook his head dismissively, turning to glare where 0 had disappeared, refusing to meet 7's optics.

"She is no more a 'little kid' than you are a beast." 1 retorted, slowly becoming lost in his thoughts. 9 stepped up to 7's side.

"Then what is she?" he asked, hoping to find out himself without to much conflict. 1 turned slowly to face them, sighing quietly and closing his optics, rubbing his temples. Lowering his hand and looking from 7 to 9, and then to 5 as the Guide timidly approached.

"In a numerical sense, the number 'zero' comes before the number 'one'." 1 replied rather cryptically. 7 looked ready to bust a seam, but 5 spoke up before she could.

"Do you mean that 0 came before you?" he guessed. 1 nodded slowly. 7 opened her mouth to speak, but didn't. 9 frowned, looking down at his zipper.

"Then . . . why does she have a zipper?" he asked finally, looking back up. 1 shrugged.

"Why does she have a number?" he countered, shaking his head. " I don't know a lot about her, so go ask her yourself." he finally said, picking the direction 0 went and walking off quickly before the others could respond.

This new bit of information changed a lot of their perspective on the smallest Stitchpunk.

And a lot of questions.

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><p><strong>Me: PHEW! That took me forever! The darn computer ate my chapter and I had to rewrite EVERYTHING!<strong>

**Cat: You forgot about me.**

**Me: No, I haven't. I'll pull you back in soon enough.**** Please review!**


	9. A Stitchpunks Story

**Author's Note**

**If I owned '9'. . . I'm currently out of ideas.**

**Well, lets see. 6 and 0 played, stole 1's hat and staff, the others know a tiny bit more about 0, and . . . that sums it up. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 9:<strong> A Stitchpunks Story

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><p>1 knew he was getting close to the little trouble-maker. The giggles that would get quieter the farther he went confirmed it. Nothing much had changed from when he last interacted with her. Freezing whenever he looked at her, pretending something scary was behind him, then running off with whatever item he currently had or tripping him up before darting out of reach.<p>

The giggles stopped abruptly. Oh, he was definitely close now. Turning a corner, he found himself looking straight out at the exit to the Library. There was a rattle of metal, from what, he wasn't entirely sure, but he ignored it and looked around for her hiding spot. There was more rattling, loud enough and close enough to pay attention to.

It was coming from the exit. "Oh Creator, what has she gotten into this time?" 1 groaned aloud, stepping up to peer through the the open doorway; only to reel back with fear. The Cat Beast was walking up to the doorway; and 0, the little maniac, was perched on the beasts back, still holding 1's staff, no less. The chain they had used to keep her in the courtyard trailed on the ground, still wrapped around her neck.

Cat glanced around, sounding impressed. "Humans built all of this, huh? Not bad." 1 backed away slowly, but 0 spotted him from her perch. "Why'd you t-tie her up?" she asked timidly, fear still edging her voice, even as she perched on a monster that had attacked them numerous times.

"She helped m-me! W-with out her, only T-t-2 would be here r-right now, and I'd probably b-be a S-s-spiderbot's pl-play th-thing!" 0 shuddered, fear plainly seen on her face and in her body language. Cat only turned her head to see her small friend.

1 didn't move, or even utter a sound. Cat glanced over at him, then looked along the length of ehr body, before letting out a saddened sigh. "Look, I know you hate me and all, but if you'll just get this chain off, I'll go now and leave all of you in peace." the voice sounded . . . resigned. Resigned and saddened, and a little hurt. And so, so . . . _human_.

1 narrowed his optics and crossed his arms, slowly growing angry and losing his fear. He glared at Cat, ignoring how 0 shrank back with fear. He looked Cat straight in her one green optic, only to freeze and reel backwards again with shock. He had seen emotions there; sadness, sorrow, and biggest of all, guilt. There was no anger, no annoyance, nothing vengeful. Just an overwhelming sense of guilt and fear.

0 peeked back out from behind one of Cat's back-spines, then slowly slid off of Cat's back. Cat yelped, as if in pain, when 0 hit the ground about a foot plus below her with a small _thud_, her legs buckling upon impact. "Are you okay?" she asked softly. 0 nodded and waved Cat off, slowly sitting up, rubbing her head. Cat obliged and backed off.

"I'm just gonna go . . . go wait outside. When you finish telling them, I'll . . . be outside. . . ." Cat finished, dropping her head down quickly to grab the chain in her mouth and stepping out hurriedly, heading toward the corner where she had been first chained up. 0 watched Cat leave, then turned when 1 approached her, shutters widening with fear. Tossing the staff towards him, 0 shook under his gaze.

She shrank back, then stood, stumbling and teetering her way deeper into the Library, beckoning slightly to 1 with her right hand, then winced. 2, the Twins, 5, 7, 8, and 9 were already back in the main area when 0 and 1 came in. 0 stood away from everyone else, shying away slightly when anyone else tried to approach her. 1 merely huffed in annoyance at this.

8 handed the bullet shell hat to his leader, then 1 gave him a quiet command."We're wasting time." he finally snapped, and 8 chuckled quietly when 0 flinched.

"We need to know more about whats going on, 0, with the monster outside," he gestured towards the front door, "why, since you're the oldest out of all of us, you have more updated parts, and most of all, how you knew how to bring us back." 0 flinched again, stumbling back as 8 suddenly approached and grabbed her up by her hood.

0 immediately hugged her arms around her chest, trying to protect herself as she lashed out, kicking as hard as she could. Her vision was completely obstructed by her hood, so she didn't see that she had kicked 8 in the face after a few steps. With all her shaking, she didn't injure him, only surprised the larger Stitchpunk, who accidentally dropped her.

1 felt like face-palming, and 7 felt like slapping both of them. 0 had curled herself into a shaking ball, whimpering quietly every now and then. 8 quickly backed down, and 0 slowly peeked out before sitting up. She tucked her legs cross-legged beneath her, leaning over them with her arms still crossed protectively over her chest, optics darting side to side with fear and wariness.

"Y-y-you d-d-don't h-have t-t-to dr-drop m-m-me f-for a-answers." she finally stuttered out timidly, slowly gesturing for them to sit, too. Everyone soon obliged, and she briefly met each of their optics. She looked down at her legs, slowly rubbing her right hand with her left. Her optics darted from side to side every couple of seconds, but otherwise remained focused on her legs.

"I-I'm sure that you have a lot of qu-questions.," she started, her optics briefly glancing up to settle on 1, then 8 and 7 before dropping back down. "W-well, just to get it out of the way, y-yes, I was c-cr-created by Papa first, a-a-and I helped f-find a l-lot of the p-parts f-for y-you guys. . ." she trailed off, looking up again to see their reactions before looking down at her right hand with a wince and whimper of pain as she tried to flex the fingers.

And so, 0 told them her story. How she had helped the Scientist find parts to make them, how she was constantly timid, stuttering in her speech and very jumpy until 6 came. When 6 and 0 were together, they had fun, kept eachother company with singing and drawing, slept together, play fought. Neither stuttered and both were happy and not nearly as afraid when they were together.

A true brother and sister bond.

6 always stayed behind in the First Room when 0 went out to look for parts. 8 had been newly finished not to long after 0 left, how both he and 6 were gone when she returned. How the Scientist, her Papa, had told her that 6 had gone with 8 to find the others. Not too long after, 0 was stuttering and jumpy and timid again, but even worse than before.

How they finished up 9, and the only part needed was a voice-box. She had left, and searched, but got held up when more Metal Behemoths and a human patrol on the way home. How some falling rubble and gas-missiles had blocked her path and partially trapped her beneath. It had taken her days to get free and finally get back home.

The Scientist had already given 9 his soul by that time, and both were limp and unmoving. She waited in that room for years, only going out to look for the others in the small hope of finding 6 again. She knew why 9 had been 'asleep' for so long. When 6 had been given his soul, he, too, had seemed lifeless. Only when the Scientist had accidentally dropped him a onto the table when untying him had he awoken.

0 knew that the Scientist had dropped her by mistake, too, before she woke up, and that perhaps 9 was the same case. She couldn't reach 9 to cut the thread holding him, so all she could do was wait. It was during one of her searches for 6 that 9 had finally awoken. Having managed to tail 9 and 5 to the Factory, although not in time to save 2, she had somehow stopped the Cat-Beast before it could go on another hunt after the Machine fixed her.

All the features Cat currently possessed but her green-tinted optic and and black ''**C**' on her forehead. Somehow, 0 managed to rip out the evil microchip that controlled her, leaving her mind free and her emotions -other than anger, irritation, revenge, and rage- to come forth. Cat had been rather horrified at her past actions, having remembered everything, and 0 lead her away on a path to help things get better.

Back at the First Room's building, Cat got her letter on her forehead, a proper voice-box, and a large, green-optic at the small cost of her red one. Then, not too long after, they saw and heard some of the great explosion of the Factory. 0 had collapsed not too long after that, unable to speak. Cat had helped her best she could, but 0 knew the problem, somehow.

It was 6. Her brother was gone.

From a far, far distance, they both saw the five spirits fly up into the sky. Without knowing how she knew, she recognized one of them as 6, and cried out to him silently. Then, the rain came down, the first few drops hitting 0 right on her optics, like tears she could never make but wished desperately for, as she sobbed silently, Cat being the only friend to comfort her.

It was a week before she could walk again without falling. She sent Cat to go take a look around for the others bodies, but mostly to see if there were any surviving Beasts lurking around the Factory Ruins. Leaving 0 alone again, with her task, her _mission_ to complete. That she felt she had no choice but to complete; _no matter what the costs._

"I-I d-don't n-know h-how I know a-a-alchemy, I just n-knew that I-I h-h-had t-to b-br-bring y-y-you a-a-all b-back. I-I watched P-papa, and I-I a-always j-just n-knew w-wh-what h-he w-was d-d-doing." 0 finished, keeping her eyes firmly planted on her legs, still gently rubbing her right hand, and wincing.

The others were either deep in thought, slightly stunned or shocked, or sympathetic for all the small Stitchpunk had gone through. "You still haven't explained how you got more advanced parts if you're the oldest." 2 pointed out gently. 0 looked up, barely meeting his eyes before looking back down.

"W-well . . ." she winced harder, rubbing her left hand lightly along her right leg, shivering hard. closing her eyes and slowly rubbing the spot over and over again, 0 told them.

It hadn't been too long after 6 and 8 went into the war-filled land. Papa needed just a few more, intact pieces of glass to finish 9's optics, and some more bits of copper for fingers, as well as something to close his front. So, 0 left the house with a small, empty drawstring bag over her shoulder. When she had first been created, she was patched together like a patchwork quilt.

Her arms, legs and body had been made from small, semi-random patches of fabric, so it looked like she'd been torn apart and sewn back together again; three times over. Only her head was one whole piece.

Her body was a soft, thin, light blue fabric, her left arm was dark blue denim, her right arm and leg white and black striped. Her left leg was the same as her body. Her head was dark blue denim, the optics dull, faded silver in color, a patch with thin, dark brown yarn sown on to help hide the roughly sewn bit where he had gathered the head fabric in the back.

The yarn came down to just below her shoulders back then. Her hands and feet barely resembled said appendages, and her optics were slanted even worse than 1's.

It was even more dangerous than usual when she left at about midday. Metal Behemoths and human patrols at almost every turn. It was nearly dark by the time she had found what was needed and was heading back. That's when disaster struck. Another round of metal Behemoths were attacking some humans, open-firing.

Dead bodies were dropping while the Behemoths stomped onward, undefeated and undeterred, and 0 was deeply regretting going out so far afield. When she ran across the open area between the humans both live and dead, one fell directly behind her. He wasn't dead yet, but would die soon of blood loss or the gas. 0 had paused, moving a little closer to see if she could help him, but he saw her, and, with a angry, fearful yell, lashed out.

She was sent flying, hitting the unforgiving ground with a _thud_ next to a pile of rubble, gasping for breath and holding her aching side. A Metal Behemoth had started launching more gas-missiles, and one ricocheted off of her hands, and the rubble did the rest of for her feet and eyes, besides shredding her fabric to mere ribbons and patches that hung off of her loosely.

The pain was so great, she could feel nothing at first. She somehow managed to make it back into the First Room before she finally collapsed. The pain had been overwhelming, and she couldn't remember much of anything after that until she woke back up. When she had, she saw everything much more clearly than she ever had before, my hands and feet worked better, and she had whole pieces of fabric for my body, and even a zipper for her front and hood for her head!

The Scientist had saved her, at the cost of being set back a few days on making 9. For both of them, it was a small price to pay. Unfortunately, some scraps of fabric had to be left behind underneath her new cloth skin, and so caused her occasional sharp pains here and there. Especially when she pulled that memory to the surface.

"I-I actually h-h-have th-th-the h-hands, f-feet, o-optics, a-and z-z-zipper th-that N-n-9 was going to h-have. W-wh-when th-they w-w-were f-first m-made, th-they w-were t-to sm-small, s-so w-we h-had t-to m-make n-n-new ones. S-so w-we p-p-put th-the f-f-first ones u-u-up. Th-that's w-what P-Papa f-f-fixed m-me w-with." 0 stuttered out, gently feeling each of the joints in all of the fingers in her right hand.

None of them spoke at first, processing everything they had learned. 0 had been around longer than any of them, and by the sound of it, had suffered more than any of them too. But there was one more question that 5 decided to ask.

"Do you know why you and 6 have such a strong bond, even when you first met? You . . . you never seemed to warm up to me or the others the same." 5 asked, trying to look 0 in the optics, but she stubbornly kept her gaze downward. She flinched slightly at the words, head popping up for a moment as her shutters darted side to side, looking everywhere but the where the others sat.

Looking back down, she mumbled inaudibly before speaking up. "E-each h-human c-can divide their s-soul eight times at most; it is impossible t-to go b-beyond that," she paused, then carried on.

"I n-know that there a-are t-ten of u-us. The Twins h-h-have only half a piece of a s-soul e-each; th-that's why their s-s-so alike. B-but, s-since th-they w-w-ere br-brought t-to l-life a-a-at th-the s-same t-time, th-their l-l-link i-is s-s-stronger." another pause, another stunned silence. "M-me. . .and S-6. . . our souls are really t-two d-d-different h-halves . . . of th-the s-same p-piece." she got out, sounding like saying the words were painful.

" . . . what. . . what are you saying?" 7 got out, pulling out of the stunned silence quicker than the others. 0 looked up for less than a second before looking down, whimpering again.

"M-me. . .and S-6. . . w-we're l-l-literally one s-s-soul i-in t-two b-b-bodies. W-we're l-linked, b-but h-having been br-brought t-to l-l-life a-at d-d-different t-t-times, and s-s-so f-far a-apart, o-our l-link w-was a-already w-weak. . . i-it w-would've gr-grown s-stronger o-over t-time, b-b-but s-since w-we w-w-were s-s-so f-f-far a-apart, w-well. . . " 0 trailed off, curling in on herself slightly, whimpering again.

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><p><strong>Me: I am satisfied. I finally got some more of 0's background in there! Sorry that it seems like a filler, but all the stuff is important, trust me.<strong>

**0: *whimper***

**6: Where am I?**

**Me: . . . . . .Uh. . . . *no comment***

**0: S-s-6? . . . . hello?**

**Me: Don't worry, it'll all get sorted out. Please review!**


	10. Fear is Strong

**Author's Note**

**I don't own 9, but I want to**

**Hello! Please enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 10:<strong> Fear is Strong . . .

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><p>9 was the first to react. Stepping up to 0, he crouched down to her level to try and meet her optics. She shied away from him, before stumbling to her feet and running away with a small, scared squeak. She didn't get very far, however, before she stumbled over her own feet and sprawled on the ground face first. When 9 reached down to help her up, she curled into a tight ball, shaking.<p>

5, 2, and 7 joined 9, but the moment 5 touched her, she shuddered and curled up tighter, whimpering quietly. ". . . .g-g-go a-a-away . . . . . l-l-leave m-m-me a-a-alone!" she wailed/whispered quietly, curling up even tighter than before, which seemed near-impossible. 9 sat down next to her and gathered her into his arms, holding her and gently rubbing her back.

0 froze completely, holding still, her breathing fast. She peeked out slowly, shutters wide. Seeing friendly, smiling faces, she slowly sat up, flinching and whimpering again when 5 sat down next to 9, reaching out a hand to her shoulder. 0 turned slowly in 9's lap to look at 5, shutters still wide, peering out of her hood, left hand clutching at her zipper slide, tugging it to the side in a 6-like manner.

" . . . . y-y-you're n-n-not g-g-gonna h-_hurt_ m-me?" she squeaked, disbelief and fear clear in her voice. 5 smiled and gently took her right hand. 0 winced and breathed in sharply, but did not fight it. 2 placed a hand on her shoulder, and she twisted her head slightly to see him, still tense.

"Its okay, 0. You'll be safe with us. We'll protect you." 2 comforted, and 5 gave her hand a comforting squeeze. 0 squealed sharply this time, jerking her hand out of his grasp, falling out of 9's lap and onto the floor. Scrambling to her feet, she skittered away from them, cradling her right hand to her chest. 8 tried to her approach her, backing her into a corner.

"8! Knock it off, you're scaring her!" 7 snapped loudly, and 0 shrank down even more, whimpering quietly. She was scared, and just wanted her brother. Cradling her hand closer to her chest, she breathed in sharply again, trying to keep her cries and whimpers from escaping her throat.

Her hand felt like it was being assaulted by red-hot needle points all over when she moved or touched it, and she could feel a numbness creeping up into it. Besides that, it was cold against her fabric, which she knew was a bad sign.

Something cold and wet might help . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 was staring off into space, completely zoned out from what was going on around her. 1 was watching her. He was more than aware of his job, '1 to Protect Us', and felt rather badly that he had failed to do so with this particular Stitchpunk. Though he probably wouldn't admit to the others.

8 had backed off, but 0 did not react, still staring off into an unseen point in the distance. When 2 approached her, 0's shutters focused and snapped onto him, and she regained her fearful look. 2 glanced down at her right hand.

Nothing was obvious at first glance, but he could be wrong about it being injured. 2 held out his hand in a slow, nonthreatening manner, but she still flinched back. 2 sighed softly. "0, its okay. Please, let us help you. I promise, we don't want to hurt you." 0 hesitated, troubled and wary, then slowly stretched her left hand out, letting 2 take it.

"See, its okay. I just want to help. We all do." he assured, slowly guiding 0 out of the corner. "W-w-water. . . " 0 whimpered out, looking down at her right hand.

"Water . . ?" echoed 5, lightly placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, which 0 flinched slightly from the touch, but looked up at 5 none the less.

"B-b-Burns . . . w-w-water w-would h-h-help . . ." she got out, reluctantly letting 2 bring her to the edge of the group. So far, only 8 seemed disinterested in the whole situation, glancing over every now and then, while 1 was watching her closely. It made her feel uncomfortable, and even more wary of him, as if he were a Beast trying to hunt her down.

She shivered again at the thought, even as 5 led her alone towards the pool. The others didn't come with them, to 0's relief, and she felt herself loosen up a little from her tense posture. She stumbled quite a few times before they made it, but when they did, both were surprised to see 6. 6 was sprawled out on the pools edge, back to them, one hand in the water.

5 froze for several moments, but 0 acted immediately, darting forward to grab 6's other arm and drag him away from the edge. 0 felt his chest with a hand, breathed a small sigh of relief, then inhaled sharply, dropping to her knees.

6 had a long tear on his side, going from below his left arm and stretching down to the top of his left leg, exposing his inner workings and metal bones. 0 yanked her zippered front open, pulled out her leather belt, and starting digging around in the pouch before taking out a small, half-inch long needle with a small length of black thread attached.

Knotting the end, she began to quickly and gently sew up the wound. 5 snapped out of his daze and ran over, dropping to his knees on 6's other side. "Oh dear Creator! 6, what happened to you?" 5 mumbled to himself, carefully looking over him for anymore injuries. 0 gave him a distressed, saddened look, putting down the needle and stopping his hands.

"What is it?" 5 asked, and 0 shook her head, once again using her left hand to continue stitching up the tear. It was hard going for her with only one hand, and 5, seeing the problem, helped to hold the two flaps of cloth closer together.

"Th-thank you." 0 stuttered, focusing on her work. Carefully setting up her stitch-work so that the knot would be on the inside, she did the last stitch, pulled it tight, then pulled the string taught and held it in her mouth. In one smooth motion, she took her knife and cut the thread. Quickly holstering it, she slipped the needle into the pouch.

Gently shaking 6's side, 0 murmured, "6? You okay?" she was rewarded with a pained groan. Smiling slowly, she shook him a little harder. He groaned again, louder, before breaking out into a rough coughing fit that didn't pass for a minute. He still hadn't woken up, ans he was gasping as if he couldn't get enough air. 0 began to panic, but stopped herself from shaking him again.

Closing her shutters, she took a deep breath before letting it out, a determined expression on her face when she opened them again. Carefully, she pulled open the Velcro that held his front shut, trying to get a good look at his inner workings. Pulling it open further, 0 went completely rigid, staring down.

"What, whats wrong?!" 5 asked, trying to keep from panicking himself. 0 didn't seem to hear him. Carefully reaching down, she pulled the fabric open a little wider, and pointed to a bit of bent metal, and 5 gasped.

It was one of 6's ribs. It was bent severely out of shape, rubbing against others parts that it shouldn't be touching. Leaning over, 5 quickly realized that at least two other ribs were either broken or bent out of shape. This would require a medical expertise that 5 didn't have to try and fix this.

"0, stay here with 6, okay? I'm going to get the others to help with this, alright?" 0 grabbed his arm before he could leave, pointing down to a patch of black liquid that was spreading from 6's side.

"His i-ink. H-he's l-losing it." she said quietly, looking up at 5 with hope and fear. 5 gently grasped her left hand. "Its going to be okay. But I need 2's help to fix this." 0 stopped him again, frowning, and pointed out her stitch-work on 6's side, then to herself.

"I-I know how our interiors w-work and l-look b-better th-than a-anyone else. B-but I only h-have one h-hand. I-I n-need h-help." 0 explained, giving 5 a kind of pleading, helpless look. 5 paused, then sighed and nodded in defeat.

It took awhile, but, with instructions from 0, 5 carefully bent the ribs back into shape, until they were almost as good as new. A pressing question however, was why 6 was leaking ink from his body to begin with. He couldn't store ink inside himself . . . . could he?

Leaning over with a frown, 0 carefully reached inside again. Her hand came out, fingertips covered with fresh ink. "I n-need some cloth. . .5, c-can you please get s-some cloth? S-something th-that'll . . . absorb the i-ink?" she asked, reaching for her belt-pouch again. 5 nodded quickly and stood, sprinting back towards the temporary Workshop where they were keeping their supplies and trinkets.

2 was already in there with 9 and the Twins, showing them a golden ring. "Oh, hello, 5. Where's 0 at?" 2 asked. 5 ignored him and began rummaging through the baskets and piles of stuff, mumbling under his breath. The others watched him.

"Uh, 5?" started 9, stepping up to his friend, "Are you okay?" 5 nodded quickly, still rummaging through everything.

"I need to find some spare fabric for 0. 6 is hurt." 5 replied hurriedly, finally tugging a good-sized piece of fabric out from a pile of recent scouting missions. 9 followed 5 out as the buttoned Stitchpunk sprinted back at top speed, but skidded to a halt with horror, the fabric dropping from his hands. 9 stopped next to him, glancing at 5 before looking where he was looking, and froze.

0 had cut the fabric on her right leg clean away, leaving little more than small, tattered scraps of what looked like 6's fabric going from the hip to just above the knee. Currently, 0 herself was cutting a length of thread that was coming out of 6's open front, putting the knife and needle away before carefully closing 6's front. Looking up, she caught sight of 9 and 5 and beckoned them closer.

"D-did you find any f-fabric?" she asked, voice tinged with pain. 5 nodded numbly and walked back to pick it back up, but 9 was staring at her leg. The metal bones looked so. . . _fragile_. Getting to his knees next to her, he lightly touched the metal. She hissed quietly when he brushed the tattered fabric, and 9 quickly retracted his hand.

"Sorry, sorry. What happened to 6? Did something attack you guys?" he asked, glancing down at the metal bones of her leg again. 5 walked back over and handed her the fabric, which was just a small roll of burlap. 0 nodded to him before addressing 9.

"I d-don't know wh-what happened to 6, b-but he n-needed s-some d-durable cl-cloth for h-his i-ink reserve." 0 replied, as if it were no bid deal that she had just _cut off_ her own fabric. 5 stared at her.

"But didn't it _hurt_? And why'd you send me off to get fabric if you were just going to cut yourself up?! You didn't need to hurt yourself more!?" 5 exclaimed, rather loudly, and 0 flinched back slightly. 9 laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, which, shockingly, she didn't flinch from.

"To m-make sure y-you wouldn't tr-try to s-st-stop me fr-from u-using m-my fabric. It was th-the only d-durable, water pr-proof f-fabric n-nearby." 0 replied evenly, but her voice still had that undertone of pain to it. 5 gently put a hand to her shoulder, and she merely met his optics.

"0, why did 6 need your fabric? You already fixed his tear." he pointed out gently. 0 gave him a bewildered look.

"Ink reserve h-had a hole i-in it. B-bad bad bad." she mumbled in response, yawning a little and stretching her hands above her head. Bringing them back down, she winced and looked at her right hand, gently feeling it and wincing again, hissing quietly. 5 decided that it was his turn to take over as healer and gently laid a hand on 0's shoulder.

"0, your hand," he started, but she cut him off. "Its f-fine. R-really." she protested, and 5 raised his stitched brows. "Really? Then let me see it." he insisted, and 0 looked away.

" . . .uh . . . " she responded, stalling for time. 9 laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "0, you brought everyone back when no one else could, and you just saved 6's life. Please, let _us_ help _you_ for once." this argument seemed to hit home, as 0 sighed and scooted over, so 5 could properly look at her hand. 9 carefully scooped the artist into his arms bridal-style, then realized that something was off. 6 was much lighter in weight now.

"His key. O-over there." 0 quietly pointed out, pointing a short distance away to where the artists' key did, indeed, lay on the ground. 9 nodded and picked it up before hurrying towards the Workshop.

Lightly taking 0's hand, 5 carefully checked it over for any loose screws or twisted joints. He didn't find anything, but 0 whimpered all the same. "I can't find anything wrong with your hand. Do you have any idea what may have caused it?" understanding dawned in 5's optics.

"When you brought 6 back, you shoved one of your hands in the way of the lights. Was it your right hand?" 5 asked. 0 nodded slowly, stitched eyebrows furrowed.

"I-if it were only th-that, m-my h-hand would b-be numb." she replied, glancing warily at the pool of water. "I-I guess I t-took on 1's i-injury fr-from h-his hand, b-but i-it isn't v-visible. J-just h-hurts." 0 continued, missing 5's look of shock and understanding, touching his left optic.

"That's why you have why you can't see out of your left optic, isn't it? And the limp? 2 used to have a limp, but its gone now. . . " the full meaning behind the words seemed to hit 5 upside the face.

"W-well . . . . yes." 0 finally said, looking down at her right leg, gently running a hand over the metal. "I d-don't know h-how, b-but yes, I-I took o-on some of th-those things. S-so the rest o-of you c-could start a-again w-without a-as much trouble." 0 finished, as if she'd down something wrong and was asking forgiveness.

"Does that mean we can't fix your hand?" 5 inquired, to which 0 shrugged, slowly beginning to stand, but her right leg buckled under her weight. 5 caught her and helped to ease her back down.

"I-I'm pr-pretty sure that i-it will all g-go away w-with time. S-some longer th-than others." 0 reassured, before turning at a sudden gasp to the side. There, half-hidden behind some books, stood 1, who stared at 0 as if she were going to attack him; intrigued yet fearful. She flinched back a little, then turned away and tried to stand again.

Her leg held up okay this time, and, ignoring 5, she snatched up her leather belt and roll of cloth and hobbled towards the pool. Laying down on her stomach, shoulders just poking over the edge, she gingerly dipped her right hand in. Sighing in relief as the red-hot pin-prickling seemed to disappear in the cool, wet liquid. Rapid footsteps signaled 5's quick retreat. Slower-paced steps indicated 1's approach.

0 refused to look at him, instead removing her hand from the water. Sitting up, 0 carefully flexed the fingers, relieved to find that there was no pain, just an odd numbness. Taking the cloth, she wiped her hand off, completely ignoring 1 as he sat down next to her.

"You can't ignore me forever, you know." 1 pointed out impatiently. 0 put down the cloth and scooted back from the edge, stretching out her right leg slowly. Lightly touching the tattered, open fabric there, she winced, then brought out the needle and some more thread.

"0!" 1 snapped, losing his patient quickly. 0 flinched back from him, actually turning to meet his optics. Although not showing nearly the same level of fear as earlier, she was still, obviously fearful or at least wary of 1.

"Y-y-yes?" she stuttered, turning her whole body so that she was facing him before continuing to sew up the edge of the fabric.

"Why are you so afraid of me?" 1 finally asked rhetorically. 0 shrugged, focusing on her work.

"Y-you were b-better made a-and had a fr-front that could b-be closed. You h-had hands that l-looked like a-actual hands. I was j-just a r-rag covered piece o-of metal." 0 replied sullenly. 1 blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected an answer, much less this one. 0 took the burlap and carefully cut it with her knife, then sowed it onto her tattered, striped fabric.

"You were _jealous_ of me?" he asked dubiously. 0 shrugged.

"I-I a-admired you. B-but you w-were m-mean sometimes. I-I w-was a-all alone." 0 replied, finishing up her work. Now, the fabric was sowed off and tightened just below the knee, so her metal bones were still exposed. 1 pointed this out.

"Aren't you going to add a little more fabric? The bone is still exposed." 0 shrugged, put away her knife and needle. After putting her belt inside herself and zipping her front shut, 0 slowly stood up, flexing her leg.

"That's h-how it was before wh-when Papa made me. I-I'll be okay." she replied, but 1 caught the tinge of pain in her voice. He eyed her right hand as he stood up.

"Did you really take on my injury?" 1 asked, and 0 only nodded before sprinting away and out of sight.

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><p><strong>Me: Okay, I'm gonna end it there.<strong>

**9: What happened to 6?**

**1: And why does 0 have our injuries?!**

**0: Um . . . . *runs off to find 6***

**Me: Not telling ya. You're gonna have to wait like everybody else. Where's 8? **

**8: Ooooh*using magnet* Ooooh . . .**

**Me: *stares in slight disbelief while contemplating slapping him***

**Cat: *walks over, takes magnet, and chucks it onto the Library's roof* That thing is nothing but trouble.*growled in annoyance***

**8: *glares, charges and starts punching Cat's metal side, which does nothing***

**Cat: . . . idiot. *muttered, turns, and stalks off ignoring 8 as he follows her***

**Me: Um, right, that happened. Please review!**


	11. But Trust is Stronger

**Author's Note**

**I don't own 9**

**Hello again! There's gonna be quite a few twists now. You won't be expecting even half of it!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11:<strong> But Trust is Stronger

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><p>9 brought 6 into the Workshop and set him on the bed in there. 2 was still in there, and he immediately came over. "What happened to 6?" he asked worriedly. 9 shrugged.<p>

"I don't know, but 5 and 0 were working on him, I think." 9 replied, standing back so 2 could open up the artist and check him over. After a few minutes of looking about, 2 closed 6 up again.

"By the looks of it, some of his ribs were bent severely out of shape, but they've been fixed up, besides this fixed tear on his side." 2 explained, lightly tapping it. "All of the ribs that were bent were on that side. And with quite a lot of force, too." 9 looked down at 6's key, which he still held in his hands, wondering what had happened to the poor artist.

"Do you think it could have been a Beast?" he asked. 2's look was grave.

"I hope not. It's not good if it was." 2 replied, lost in thought for a moment. "You can go now, 9. I'll look after 6 until he wakes up." 9 nodded hesitantly, then left, leaving 6's key next to him. Not too long after, 5 came in alone, going straight to 6's side.

"Is he alright?" he demanded worriedly. 2 nodded. "He should be. You bent his ribs back into place and fixed up that tear. To much longer like that, though, and there's a chance he wouldn't have made it." 5 went rigid, a chill going up his back.

"I didn't know what to do . . . 0 did. She told me how to fix him after sewing up his side." 5 replied slowly. 2 patted his shoulder. "Which means that its a good thing you were there. You both saved him." 2 replied kindly. A low groan of pain interrupted both of them. Turning towards the bed, both Stitchpunks saw 6 beginning to stir.

The artist rolled over with a low mumble, grabbed his key to his chest, then quieted again, breathing evenly. Meanwhile, 0 had run to the only place she could think of going to. Out in the courtyard, she walked out to where Cat was still chained, sat next to her, and sighed.

"You okay? What happened to your leg?" Cat asked, concern clear in her voice.

"I-I'm fine. Have you s-seen anything trying to get in? O-or leave?" 0 replied, looking up at her friend. Cat shook her head slowly.

"No, but I have been getting worried. Without anyone to keep those Spi'bots in line, they could scatter and eventually make their way out into the Emptiness; or here, which is even worse. Think that you could . . ?" Cat asked, lifting up a small length of chain. 0 nodded in thought, then stood again.

"I-I'll do my best. Pr-promise." stumbling and limping, 0 made her way back inside. At the entrance stood 8, who glared at her. She creeped through the entrance, keeping as far away as possible. She watched as he set down a magnet, on his back perhaps, before standing and cracking his knuckles.

0 hurried past, timidly looking back at him to make sure that he wouldn't follow her before disappearing into the Library. Going straight for the Twins miniature library, she walked inside. Stepping up to the book with all the strings coming out of it, a thought weaseled its way into her head.

Had they really stopped the Machine? Was it really, truly dead? It had 'died' once, who's to say it wouldn't come back? The idea chilled 0 to her the core.

But it gave her an idea.

A crazy idea, that might not even work, that would take some planning, some convincing, and a heck of a lot of luck, but might still work.

Scurrying back the way she came, 0 sprinted to her and 6's room, managing to find it the first time. She passed 1 and 2, the first glaring at ehr and the second a look of concern, but she ignored both. When she got in, 0 pulled some pieces of paper closer to one of 3 inkwells, dipped a finger in, and started writing.

The lines were scrawled and messy, the words and letters twisted, but still legible. After several long minutes, 0 straightened from her hunched position, rubbed her right hand off on her left leg, then grabbed the paper, then paused. Her armor, cat skull, goggles, and weapon lay in a corner of the room.

Walking over, she picked up her goggles and put them, lenses on her forehead so she would be seeing red. then, she picked up her cat skullmet, then placed it on, tilted back so she wasn't staring out through the sockets. Then, she tied on a few pieces of her cork armor so that it covered her chest, back, and shoulders. She left the rest of it alone, not even bothering with the metal parts, then grabbed up her staff and strapped it to her right wrist.

Continuing on her way, 0, no, _Zandra_ felt a burst of confidence. This was going to work. They would destroy the Machine, to make sure that it would never be able to harm another Stitchpunk ever again. The first Stitchpunk she saw afterwards just so happened to be 9, 7, and 5. Walking right up to him, she pulled him to the side and launched into the outline of her plan.

And the odd thing was, there was not a single stutter throughout the whole explanation, completely confident that it would work, and eager to fight; definitely not like her. 9 nodded slowly, but 7 and 5 caught onto her weird behavior immediately.

"That could work." 7 mumbled under her breath, taking note of 0/Zandra's relaxed posture, how she was wielding her knife-staff, her speech.

"Are you sure Cat would be willing to-?" 9 started, but was cut off.

"Yes, I'm positive. She fears the Machine as much as we do." 0/Zandra interrupted confidently and without hesitation. 9 shook his head.

"What I meant was, would she be willing to help us? She is a Beast, after all." 9 shot back, rubbing at his left shoulder, where is red stitches were. 0/Zandra shrugged.

"She is not like the Other Beasts. The microchip," she paused at their perplexed expressions, and gestured somewhat wildly, waving her spear around a bit, causing 9 and the others to flinch away with confusion and apprehension. "In short, a small, thin device used to control machines and beasts; the Machine put one in Cat, but I removed it after the Machine repaired her, so she has her own free will now."

When 9 still seemed doubtful/untrusting, 0/Zandra finished with, "If she wanted to kill me, she could have done it the moment I stopped in front of her and started talking." shrugging, 0/Zandra held up the piece of paper and squinted at it, perplexedly handing it to 5.

"I don't think that's a language, but whoever wrote the plan down on it." she muttered, bouncing a bit on her toes and looking about with an air of irritation and impatient. 5, 7, and 9 looked at the paper. It was covered with writing, but they could read it fine. 9 and 7 recognized it as 0's handwriting. 7 looked up.

"0, this is in_ your_ handwriting. You wrote it." 7 pointed out flatly, raising a stitched brow. 0/Zandra blinked, and then glared at her.

"0 is a timid, _weak_ rag doll, who's only good at sewing up injuries and can't even fight." she growled out, waving her knife-staff and left hand about in crazy gestures as the others stared in surprise and disbelief.

"_MY_ name is Zandra; I'm brave, I'm a _warrior_, I can fight Beasts! 0 and I are complete opposites; we're nothing alike." she finished, before glancing at the paper again. "Are you _sure_ that's in English? 0's handwriting is terrible." 0/Zandra continued amiably, as if her sharp talk and glares hadn't happened.

"Um, Zandra?" 5 began meekly.

"Yes?"

"Um, well, if you're, well, _Zandra_, then where is 0?" 5 finally got out. 7 watched her expectantly, as did 9. 'Zandra' paused, then shrugged her shoulders.

"Around. We both come and go as needed. She doesn't notice me very much, which can be annoying, but you guys know I'm here now, so," she waved her left hand in a rolling motion, "this plan will work and you'll know when I'm needed." she finished with a dangerous, confident smile. Grabbing 7 by the wrist, she started to lead her away.

"Come on, we need to get the others and get this thing rolling!" Zandra/0 exclaimed with excitement, looking back at 9 and 5. "You guys should go talk to 2. He'll probably know where we'll be able to find the firepower." she grinned that eccentric, dangerous grin again, and then she and 7 were gone.

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><p><em>Meanwhile . . . .<em>

A Seamstress, one made after her sister was sent out and later destroyed, had returned to the Factory, only to find it in ruin. _"What happened?!"_ she screeched angrily at the Spiderbots in Beast-language, who cringed and shoved their leader forward. Nervously, he stepped forward and bowed to her.

_"__I am sorry, Madame Blue, but our Creator is dead and your sister, Madame Red, too.__"_ he said, as steadily and with as much respect as he could. You never disrespect the hunters in the Beasts society, for they will turn you into nothing more than shredded wires and metal scrap. This Seamstress did, indeed, have blue thread to tie up her prey instead of red like her sister.

They had a single brother, the Tailor, Sir Yellow, similar in build and shape but with yellow thread. He had not returned yet. He had a net attached to his tail, that he could launch at his prey, then using them to lure other prey closer. All three had grown close in the short time they had stayed in the Factory, before the Machine sent them in three different directions to try and find the rag-dolls.

_"And Sir Yellow? The Tailor? Has he returned yet?"_ she pressed, trying to suppress her grief-filled rage. The Spiderbot leader looked down, trying to figure out how to say it and out the Tailor's absence in a hopeful light. Leaning down with a growl, Blue grabbed him and held him high above the ground.

_"Tell. Me. Now. Or I swear on Creator, I'll grind you to bits, Spite."_ she growled lowly, but her tone betrayed her overwhelming sadness and longing for her family. A younger Spiderbot, who hadn't met the Seamstresses or the Tailor, approached boldly. He wasn't roughed up as bad as the others, only a missing eye.

_"The Tailor hasn't come back yet, but don't take it out on Spite! The Seekers kept track of all the casualties until they disappeared. Sir Yellow was not among them."_ the young Spiderbot, Spore, explained boldly and without fear. Madame Blue slowly put Spite back on the ground and turned away for a moment, letting her emotions flash through her reddened optic before turning back the others.

_"We'll wait here. If Ye-_Sir _Yellow is alive, he'll come back here. Are there anymore of us out there?"_ she questioned finally. Spite nodded.

_"Claw and Clawette is still out there. They've been tracking the rag-dolls for awhile now. Clawette was here not too long ago and told us to stay put and await further orders. The Machine left her in charge."_ Spite replied. Madame Blue nodded slowly.

_"We'll wait for her, Claw, and Sir Yellow to return before we try to strike those rag-dolls again."_ she replied, then followed young Spore to her sisters remains, where she would end up staying until Claw, Clawette, or Sir Yellow returned.

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><p>0Zandra had gathered every Stitchpunk except 6 in the Courtyard next to Cat, and spread out the plan. Luckily, 7, 5, and 9 had been able to explain the whole 0/Zandra thing, but it was still hard to get used to.

"Its pretty simple, actually, but we'll need everyone's help and cooperation for it to work." she glared coldly at 1 and 8, then continued.

"If," she shook her head. "_When_ we succeed, we'll never again have to worry about the Machine reawakening or the Beasts coming after us ever again." after explaining the plan, 2 was first to complain.

"Why do I have to stay behind?"

"We need someone with good medical knowledge here at home base, besides someone to keep an eye on Stripes." she replied. Cat tilted her head.

"Do you mean 6?" the Beast asked quietly. She was laying flat on the ground, with only her head lifted to any amount so she could see. All except 0/Zandra were recoiling from her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." she waved her hand dismissively. "Cat will keep the Spiderbots in line and working on the Machine, while the rest of us spread out and look for the firepower. Once that's done, we get it over there, stack it up, cut a few wires, then, BOOM!?" she threw her hands -and staff- up high over her head with a shout, the others jumping.

"No more Machine of Beasts to worry about." she finished, proud and confident. 1, who had been silent up until this point, scoffed in distaste.

"Just because you suddenly get cocky and drop the timid act, you think you can boss us around. We are _not_ going to risk our lives for this ridiculous, insane plan." he crossed his arms with a small smirk, glaring at 0/Zandra. Who was currently Zandra, the eccentric warrior. Who _no one_ should dare cross. For two seconds, she stared at him, then growled and marched up into his face with a glare of her own.

"Listen up, you old man, you may know 'me'," she made air quotes, "but I am not 0; my name is Zandra. We're complete opposites; she's a timid healer and I'm a brave fighter. And if you can't see a good plan when you see one, well, you're a bigger fool than I initially thought." she stared intently into his optics, making him feel like she was boring a hole into his soul. Zandra quirked a stitched brow up,

"And apparently, you'll opt for saving your own cloth hide, rather than even _trying_ to help the others, like . . . _when the Winged Beast attacked_, if **memory** serves. Some protector you are." she stepped back with a cocky smirk, watching as he stuttered in shock. The others, too, were shocked, except for Cat, who rolled her optic.

"Zandra, we're getting off topic. 1's staying here anyhow, so there's no need to try and show him up. We're a team, so we need to start acting the part." Zandra nodded, still smirking, then backed off and dropped it.

It was time to end this war, and let the world start anew.

Even if Zandra had to die fighting.

* * *

><p><strong>Me: O-kay, that seems a little more ominous than I thought it would.<strong>

**Zandra: Why is everybody looking at me weird?!**

**0: Where am I? And who is that?!* points at Zandra***

**Me: *rolls eyes* this is a sort of dream-like place outside the physical plane. Where else do you guys think we end up at the end of every chapter?**

**0: Why does she look like me?"**

**Zandra: *rolls optics and points spear at 0* not a clue, but you'll learn who I am soon enough.**

**Me: Right, maybe. You guys will get to see the plan that 0 wrote up this chapter next chapter. Please review!**


	12. Preparing for Battle

**Author's Note**

**I don't own 9**

**Well, last chapter was interesting. Please read the following! Its very important and will help with a lot of things! I also edited this thing, so hopefully it makes more sense.**

**I did actual research before writing about 'Zandra'. 0 has Dissociative Personality Disorder(Multiple Personality Disorder), and its kind-of a long explanation, so look it up, please. So, I'll explain how it comes into play in my story.**

**In short, whenever she has on her armor ans something happens/is going to happen that requires fighting or any other violence, 'Zandra' will take charge and rise to the surface. 0 doesn't really know about Zandra, but they're literal opposites.**

**0 is timid and kind, wouldn't say a word in her own self-defense, and can't really fight, but knows how to read, write, heal, and all about alchemy. If someone is experiencing a powerful memory flashback and she looks into their eyes, she can see that memory and their current thoughts on it.**

**Zandra is outspoken and can be a little harsh at times, besides the fact that she has weird nicknames for all of them based on appearance/most prominent personality trait.**

**She'll defend herself, in both battle and arguments, to her last breath. She can't read, write, and her knowledge of the others interiors means she could stab or cut a spot and put them out of commission without it being a killing blow.**

**She can also force herself into peoples memories to see whats there, so it can be used against them and to see if they're lying or not. Huge sense of justice and won't restrain herself from running head-on into a physical brawl that started as an argument.**

**The only thing the two 'halves' of this Stitchpunk have in common is the fact that they always stay quiet when injured/in pain, 'cause otherwise the Beasts will find/hurt them all the worse. That and ****their sense of brotherhood for 6 and their willingness to keep everybody safe and alive from outside threats; even at a cost.**

**For 0, its taking on a few injuries from the whole 'bringing everyone back' thing. For Zandra, she would let herself die or become seriously wounded to protect everybody else.**

**I think I've blabbered on enough. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12:<strong> Preparing for Battle

* * *

><p><strong><span>Destroy the Machine Forever; Plan #1<span>**

/

**Willing people joining;** _5, 7, 8, 9, 0, and Cat_

**/**

**Unwilling people joining;** _Spiderbots_

**/**

**Supplies;** _weapons, wire cutters, dynamite/bombs/barrels of oil and/or gun powder_('firepower' will refer to whatever we use/find)_, sewing supplies_

**/**

**Strategy;** _Cat will tell the Spiderbots to come with her. They will go to the Machine and start breaking down its exterior. While that happens, 8 will carry the firepower while 7 and 5 guard him._

_Once the Spiderbots have broken through to a lot of the wires beneath, 9 and 0 will appear and lead the Spiderbots into a pre-made trap, while the others go in and prepare to light the firepower._

_Then, once they've cut up the wires, everybody will get well away except for one person. That person will light off the firepower, and we'll be able to watch as the Machine becomes permanently destroyed, as well as rounding up a few Beasts at the same time._

**/**

**Groups/Gathering of Supplies/Further Strategy;** _Everyone (excluding 2 and 6) will spread out and work together to find the firepower. Once found, sufficient amounts will be stored near the Machine for later use. 1 and 2 will remain behind to look after 6, 3, and 4._

_Once the firepower has been secured, weapons will be gathered, sharpened, made, etc. in preparation for battle. Proper supplies for treating injuries should be kept on-hand and brought to the battlefield, as well as stocked at Home Base._

**/**

**Aftermath;** _The Machine will never be a problem again, and the Beasts a smaller problem than before. We shall be free of fear and be able to explore as we please._

* * *

><p>9 and 5 had gone one way while 7 and Zandra had gone another in search of 'firepower' to use against the Machine. Cat had already left to keep the Spiderbots in line and start 'repairing' the Machine. 3, 4, 1, 2, 6, and 8 were staying behind for now, sharpening weapons and keeping a sharp eye out for any trouble.<p>

Except for 6. He had yet to awaken. But he was stable, 2 and 5 had insisted to Zandra, who was showing the smallest hint of worry at the time. So far, 7 and Zandra had found nothing useful. Zandra growled in frustration and kicked a small stone away with her right foot, yelping as it shot a burst of intense pain through her leg. Rubbing the metal bone that was visible, she mentally berated showing weakness.

Weakness meant that your enemy would strike you down harder and kill you quicker.

Weakness meant death.

"I still don't understand why you don't sew that up." 7 pointed out, pointing towards the exposed metal bone of the leg. Zandra shrugged.

"Ask 0, not me." she replied. "This is how Lab-coat made her, with the stuff below the elbows and knees exposed. I listen to what few 'rules' there are, Sun-Bleach, and make up the rest as I go along." shrugging, Zandra started scrambling up a bit of rubble to try and better see their surroundings.

"'Sun-Bleach'?" demanded 7, feeling vaguely insulted. Zandra looked back.

"Jeez, calm down. You've been running about in the sunlight for years while everyone else remained mostly locked away. Plus your pale in color, plus you're warm as the sun's rays to keep others warm yet harshest of harsh towards those that threaten family." Zandra shrugged again and continued scrambling upwards. 7 rolled her optics after a moment and followed after her. She was, in a sense, right.

But how did she know all that? "How do you even know all of that?" 7 asked, and Zandra shrugged.

"0 can look into your optics and see whatever memory is on your mind and whatever thoughts you have at present." Zandra paused, surveying the area. It was an open battlefield, with the fallen bodies of both man and machine scattered about here and there, besides trenches that might be full of treasure and supplies; like the 'firepower'.

"For me, I can look into someones eyes and dig up a memory; to see if their telling the truth or just to mess with them. Haven't done it much, though." she finished, before seeming to spot what she was looking for.

"Aha!" she ran towards it, scrambling down the rubble heap and sprinting when she hit solid ground. 7 followed her at a slower, more evened-out pace. "Where does she get the energy." 7 grumbled. "Either creeps along slowly or sprints like the wind to where-ever she goes." It looked like a human weapons stash, similar to the one that 7, 9, 1, and the Twins had hidden in when they were running from the Machine.

This sent a wave of foreboding into the warrior, but she shook it off, hurrying after the small Stitchpunk. When 7 got there, Zandra was huffing and tugging on a long, heavy piece of . . . something. After a moment, 7 realized, with some horror, that it was a large, white bone from a human. Running forward, 7 grabbed Zandra by the shoulder and yanked her back quickly.

With a squeak, Zandra crouched low, swept her leg out, knocking 7 off her feet. 7 froze, as Zandra was holding one end of the knife-staff to her chest. Optics widening in surprise, Zandra backed off quickly.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" she exclaimed, before turning back to the task of trying to drag the arm-bone she had found forward. "I attack first and ask questions later." she puffed, barely able to lift the bone, let alone drag it.

"What are you doing with that?" 7 asked, gesturing towards the bone. Zandra had barely dragged it two inches, the equivalent to two feet for the Stitchpunks. Huffing, Zandra continued to haul it backwards.

"Weapons, building walls; all sorts of stuff. Whats on our heads, after all?" Zandra replied shortly, out of breath, gesturing to 7 and her own head where their respective skullmets rested. One avian and one feline. 7 shrugged.

"Its different. They weren't . . . _alive_ before. I found this like this." Zandra paused again, looking 7 up and down, before stepping closer.

"Even with the feathers? And little dangle-y things?" she questions, left hand darting forward to poke one. 7 paused, the nodded slowly.

"Well, yeah, actually. Why?" she was getting a sneaking suspicion.

"We-ell, I saw you with it once, with this other bird thing . . . awhile after the war had ended, actually. . . . you were hurt, and that other thing had that bird skullmet on its head, and it fought off Cat; without any weapons!" Zandra had an awestruck, dreamy, no, more like _reverent_ look on her face.

"She said that she was an angel, sent from Heaven," Zandra vaguely gestured to the hint of blue sky above them, "She said that she was a Guardian Angel; she left her helmet behind and flew into the sun; I attached a few of the feathers she left behind to it. Then, I guess 0 took over and fixed up your back." 7 was agape, hardly able to believe what she had just heard.

Zandra shrugged, flashed a small, knowing, mischievous smile, then darted away, deeper into the large dirt structure. 7 followed after closely as she could, but it was like the small Stitchpunk had vanished.

"Where'd you go?" the warrior muttered to herself, looking about. At last, she sees the small 'punk, but Zandra waves her hands wildly in front of her.

"Stay back," she whispered, being somewhat quiet for once, "and if something blows up, run." 7 did not like the sound of that. Zandra carefully stuck one point of her knife-staff into a 'small' keg made of wood, that was about eight inches tall and six inches around. Pulling it back, she flinched as a black powder began to pour from the small hole created, then relaxed. Grabbing a small piece of cork, she jammed it tight into the hole.

With her staff hanging idly from her right wrist by its strap, Zandra scooped up a tiny half-handful of the powder from the ground. Letting it sift through her fingers, she suddenly rubbed her palms together quickly, faster and faster. There was a small flash and muffled boom, a puff of smoke rising up from her hands. Zandra leaped back with a pained yelp, before dropping to her hands and knees and smothering some small embers in the dirt.

7 was horrified when she realized that the embers must have come from 0/Zandra's wooden palms. Running forward, she pulled the smaller Stitchpunk to her feet by her shoulders, grabbing her wrists and pulling them forward.

"Ow-! Hey, let me go-!?" Zandra complained, struggling, as 7 examined the wooden palms. They had a slightly burned, blackened appearance, but seemed fine otherwise. Zandra wrenched her hands out of 7's grasp.

"What the knife!? Why'd you do that?! I told you to stay back, and you coming running over! Come on!?" Zandra exclaimed rather loudly. She sounded more irritated than hurt, if hurt at all. 7 looked at the keg.

"What _is_ that stuff?" 7 demanded, leaning down to look at the powder on the ground.

"Its gun powder; I guess some of the humans used old-timey muskets and stuff. They'd carefully pack it down inside, put in the metal bullet, then aim and fire. Boom!" she gestured with her hands as she spoke, trying to better convey what she meant. 7 blinked.

"And you know all of this. . . how, exactly?" she questioned, standing back up, and Zandra shrugged.

"Didn't read about it, that's for sure. I saw it. I think . . ." Zandra trailed off, then shrugged. "I just know, all there is too it. That powder is in some bullets, too. We need to get this back." 7 stared at her.

"How? Its huge!" she waved her arms about to try and help clarify this for the smaller 'punk.

Zandra rolled her eyes. "Well, duh, I kinda see that. I was zigzagging back and forth to find this place. Now all we have to do is find the others and roll it back. Simple." Zandra explained calmly, before that dangerous, eager, eccentric look came about on her face again.

Holding her staff parallel to the ground behind her, Zandra darted out, sprinting away. 7 rolled her optics and followed after her. She was still thinking about what Zandra had said about the so-called 'Guardian Angel'. The thing was, she _did_ remember. But at the time, she thought she'd been hallucinating both the armored 'punk, who looked like a Beast, and the . . . . .

. . . the supposed, feathered Angel that had taken out the Cat-Beast single-handedly, without a single weapon.

And left 7 with her skullmet for further protection.

* * *

><p>Cat made her way to the Factory Ruins, surprised to hear a murmuring echoing about, an excited, anxious murmur. Quickly sliding down a small red lens to cover her green one, Cat continued on, flattening her ears out of sight and making her back-spines bristle higher, rather than point behind her, extending her fingers into more menacing claws. She looked just like her 'old' self.<p>

When she got there, she realized why everyone was so nervous. Madame Blue, the other Seamstress, had arrived. Spite, the Spiderbot leader, quickly told Cat what had happened. With the first Seamstress, Madame Red, and their brother, the Tailor, Sir Yellow. When Cat actual came face-to-face with Madame blue, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't slightly intimidated.

_"Madame Blue, my apologies for not coming here sooner. I would have been here before, but I got held up. I'm glad that we are finally able to meet formally."_ Cat went on in Beast-language, with respect and authority. Madame Blue hummed to herself for a moment in thought.

_"So, Clawette, how fairs the battle with the rag-dolls for you and Claw?"_ she asked amiably enough, but with a bitter, hurt undertone, still grieving for her fallen sister and lost brother. Cat shook her head, letting it hang for a moment.

_"Claw has not returned for years, and is presumed dead."_ gasps echoed around among the Spiderbots.

_"Claw is dead?!"_ squealed a Spore, who was promptly thumped over the head by Spot, his adoptive 'mother'. _"Be quiet!"_ she hissed at him. Cat looked across the space, that held about fifteen to twenty Spiderbots and one large Seamstress.

_"However, to avenge his death and the deaths of our fallen comrades, we need our master, our _Creator_ back."_ Cat continued, looking around to make sure she had their full attention.

_"It will require stealth, teamwork, loyalty, and a heck of a lot of luck to pull off. I know what we have to do. Here's the plan,"_ Cat continued.

* * *

><p>5 and 9 climbed up a small set of stairs out of the old basement that they had been in previously. "Do you even know what we're looking for?" 5 finally asked, feeling exhausted after hours of searching. Unfortunately, 9 had gotten sidetracked numerous times, asking about things he didn't know the name or use too, with a sort of boundless energy that never seemed to run out.<p>

9 shrugged. "I know that it explodes." 9 replied, and 5 gave him an exasperated look. Finally getting to the top, they started to leave, heading back out into the Emptiness. 9 paused and looked back, feeling like they'd missed something in there, something worth finding.

That's when 9 saw a small flash of white fabric, a small glinting of glass and metal -probably optics- in the light. Walking forward carefully, 9 followed the creature back inside. Squinting towards the sun, 5 quickly realized that the sun was going to set soon.

"Um, 9, I think that we should get going now. Its going to be night soon and we have a long ways to go." he turned back to see that 9 had vanished. "Oh no." he muttered, starting to look for his friend.

"9? Where are you? This isn't funny! We have to get back by before sunset!" 5 called, looking about. He couldn't see anything in particular that could have grabbed his friends curios optics. That's when he felt it. Eyes on his back, watching his every move. Whipping his crossbow from his pack and turning, he closed his left shutters and aimed at-

"Ah! Non sparate, non sparate!" wailed a young voice quietly, coming from a tall, Stitchpunk-like creature covered in feathers. The creature was cowering, crossing what looked to be large wings over its chest, staring at 5 with scared, wide optics.

5 froze, stuck in a moment of indecision. It looked like a Stitchpunk, but it didn't _sound_ like a Stitchpunk. He could just see a small, metallic glint of curved, sharp claws on its wings, reminding him to much of the Winged Beast that had attacked them.

"Don't shoot, _don't shoot!?_" the . . . _thing_ yelped out, cloth face etched with terror and optics shrinking down some. 9 looked out from behind her in time to see 5 faint in shock and collapse.

* * *

><p>2 busied himself with organizing the Workshop, tidying it up so they could find whatever supplies they might need quickly. 6 was mumbling in his sleep, and rolled over so he was facing the wall, hands tightened around his key.<p>

8 was standing guard at the doorway, keeping an eye out for beasts and the others returns. The sun was beginning to come down. 3 and 4 had settled not to far off, reading a book, while 1 kept an eye on them from a distance. Back in the Workshop area, 6 rolled over again, beginning to stir before slipping back into the realm of dreams and visions.

Currently, 6 was looking at something he had seen very few times before.

The Road of Time.

A single pathway lead off behind him, the Past, but it was irrelevant to what was before him.

A large, broad path lead straight ahead, with several smaller paths branching off of it. More pathways kept appearing up and down the road, as others disappeared; probable events and improbable ones, appearing and disappearing as events took place. Walking forward, 6 clutched at his key.

He had seldom been here before, and when he had, it meant that something huge was going to happen. This was where all of his visions of the future and past came from. Walking along the main path, that held the most probable timeline of events, 6 peered into every puddle; each puddle held an event, showing it like a tv.

One he came across quickly was Cat speaking to the Spiderbots and a Seamstress with blue thread instead of red, at the Factory Ruins. They were all roaring, screeching, growling, and hissing in patterns, and he couldn't understand it. He watched for a moment as they walked forward, going somewhere, and the puddle rippled, looked for a moment like regular water, then started to replay the same scene like a looped video.

Hurrying down the path, he paid close attention to everything he saw. Everything was of great importance to the Flow of Time, even if it seemed completely unrelated to everything else.

What everyone did was important. Just a few paces ahead, in another 'vision puddle', 6 watched as a new Stitchpunk, covered in white feathers, talking with 9. Branching off from this were three different paths; three different outcomes.

The first puddle in the left path showed this new 'punk and 9 walking up to 5, and 5 turning around and shooting her through the heart; the feathered Stitchpunk collapsed, and moved no more. On the right path, the first puddle showed 5 shooting the feathered Stitchpunk in what appeared to be a feather cloak attached to her arms.

With a pained shriek, the feathered Stitchpunk lunged forward, punching 5 in the optic, cracking it, and with one swipe of its sharp, clawed hands, tore a large hole in his arm and chest, before 9 tackled it to the ground, trying to pin it.

The third path that branched off from the main one, the first puddle showed the feathered, white Stitchpunk wailing, then 5 fainting while 9 looked out from behind, before both of them worked on waking 5 up.

There was no indication which event would happen, as all were likely, so 6 moved on down the main Road of Time, seeing more things.

Much farther off down the road, a puddle showed a large keg of gunpowder, propped up against the Machine. 7, the feathered 'punk, 0, and 9, all crouched on top of the Machine, starting to cut at wires that were showing, while Cat battled Spiderbots below them. A spark flew, igniting the keg. The feathered Stitchpunk screeched a warning, before 0 pushed him/her off the Machine.

The feathered Stitchpunk spread large, feathered wings, flying up above them, yelling and screeching warnings. Cat suddenly lunged, scrambling up the Machines side. Grabbing 9 and screaming in pain when he stabbed her hand with a knife, she turned and threw him as far as she could. He landed several human yards away. The feathered, no, _winged_ Stitchpunk flew after quickly, crying out, as more of the others pulled 9 to his feet.

Reaching, Cat grabbed 7 as well, grabbing the female warrior in her mouth while 0 jumped onto the Beasts neck, before lumbering off. Suddenly, without warning, Cat slowed, grabbed 7 in her hand from her mouth, and flung her towards the others. 0 gasped and cried out, trying to talk to her friend. but Cat ignored her, took her up in her clawed hand, about to throw her as well, when-

_**BOOM!?**_

An earth-rattling, ear-shattering explosion, sending debris and smoke across 6's line of sight, and a horrific, roaring cry of pain and agony. 6 peered closer, trying to see if Cat and 0 had made it.

But the image rippled, replaying itself from the beginning without change. Checking all of the variations of this event, all that 6 could find out was that someone was either blown up, buried beneath falling, flaming wreckage, or ripped apart at the hands of a Spiderbot.

With a small sigh, 6 continued forward, learning more about the future with each step, so he could Lead them through it safely as he could. One thing was confirmed for him, seeing that particular event and its variations.

Someone was going to die, no matter what happened.

And he would unable to stop it.

* * *

><p><strong>Me: Just so its clear, I did a quick edit on this chapter and am about to repost. Or, will have, as you're reading it right now.<strong>

**7: How does Zandra know the Angel thing?**

**Zandra: I saw it. You'd been attacked it, it drove off the attacker, and then 0 patched you up.**

**9: 5? You okay? *shakes 5's shoulders***

**Me: He'll be fine.**

**Feathered Stitchpunk: **Mi dispiace per lui spaventare . Ho bisogno di aiuto.

**9 and 7: . . . . . * 0.0 * **

**Zandra: What? Talk normal!**

**Me: *silent face palm* Well, I'm gonna sign out now. Please review! Next chapter will be up soon!**


	13. Lull Before the Storm

**Author's Note**

**I don't own 9, but I want too**

**Hoo, last chapter was a lot! Sorry for the long Author's Note last time, but if you didn't read it, you better. It's important. We're approaching the finale of this story, and the beginning of my next one, which includes more characters like the one I introduced the last chapter. *wink* **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13:<strong> Lull Before the Storm

* * *

><p>The sun was beginning to set when any of the Stitchpunks returned. First, it was Zandra0 and 7, both sprinting into the courtyard before screeching to a halt outside the doorway, Zandra panting a little as they made their way inside.

"You're the first ones back." 8 grunted at the doorway, glancing towards the setting sun. He grunted loudly at Zandra, who didn't even flinch. She growled lowly and mechanically like a Beast in return, smirking at his surprised, confused look before following after 7. Going to the Workshop, Zandra, with some help from 7, marked the location where the gun powder was.

"That's a pretty long ways from the Machine's remains. It may take a day or two get it there." 2 commented, frowning slightly at the map. Zandra shrugged.

"It'll all work out, Gramps. It'll take Cat awhile to get the Spiderbots to the Machine and get down to the wires. We still need to wait for 5 and 9 before we can finish up these plans, anyway." Zandra replied, rubbing her hands together lightly, wincing and inhaling sharply at the slight pain. 2's brow creased with concern and 7 lightly took ahold of her arm to keep her from running off.

"Zandra, you hands," 7 started lightly, gently pulling the smaller 'punk forward. Zandra pouted and whined, but otherwise didn't resist except a slight tug.

"Alright, fine, _Mom_." Zandra whined noncommittally, letting 2 take a look at her burnt palms while 7 gaped at the 'Mom' comment. 2 merely chuckled lightly.

"You did look after the Twins for years, you know," 2 started, lightly pushing Zandra onto another bed so the smaller Stitchpunk was sitting down. "You are, in a way, like their mother." 2 finished, picking up a small, thin knife blade. Coming back to Zandra, he began to slowly cut away the burnt parts, which was an extremely thin layer, as Zandra quickly explained what she'd done with the gunpowder.

"Well, yes, that is true." 7 consented, "But 0, Zandra, _whoever_, is older than all of us!" 7 shot back, crossing her arms in triumph. 2 glanced back for a moment, then continued to carefully peel off the blackened, charred wood. Zandra winced, but made no sound, pointedly looking at 7.

"True, but 3 and 4 are technically older than you, too." 7 opened her mouth to argue, but couldn't think of how to counter this. "And 6 is, too, but he doesn't act his 'age'. With the soul and whatnot, we all have a mental age that we're tagged with; we can't age age like regular humans, so we stay our mental age. Sort-of. 0, 6, and me are roughly the same age."

7 raised an eyebrow. "And that would be?"

Zandra shrugged her free left shoulder, wincing and hissing lightly and quietly when 2 got to work on her right hand. "Around ten, I think. I could be wrong, there's no exact age, but somewhere around there." Zandra glanced over at 6, who whined softly in his sleep, curling his body protectively around his key. She sighed, a look of sad worry crossing her features before she looked confident and ready again.

2 finished up and started to clear around the burned wood shavings. "There you go, that should be good. Shouldn't do that with gunpowder, so I hope you've learned your lesson."

Zandra nodded, gently rubbing her wooden palms together again, wincing at the sting and slight burning that was developing in her right hand. "I think that I'll go find that pool. Thanks, Gramps. Later, _Mom_." Zandra teased again, giving a slight wave as she picked up her knife-staff, glanced at 6, then walked out.

When she had, however, is when 7 burst out into a fit of laughter!

"What? What is it?" asked 2.

7 pulled herself together. "She'd been giving everyone these weird nicknames. I just keep thinking about what she'll end up calling 1." 7 answered. 2 had to agree with her. 6, still asleep, clutched tighter at his key, rolling over with a small whimper.

Zandra sprinted to the pool, dropped to her knees in a slide to the edge, and plunged her right hand in. Sighing with relief, she stood back up, shook her hand off, then tied the strap of her staff back onto her wrist again before heading for the entrance.

At the doorway with 8, sharpening his cleaver. Zandra paused just outside the door, her back to 8, and pushed her cat skullmet up, squinting at the sun and completely ignoring his intimidation tactics.

"If you want to fight me so bad, wait until we've destroyed the Machine and bad Beasts. _Then_ we can fight for a champion, agreed?" Zandra finally offered, still looking out towards the Library Courtyard gate. 8 shrugged, not yes, not no, and continued to sharpen his cleaver.

The sun fell slowly, time dragging out ever so slowly, it was like it wan't moving at all. Zandra, quickly growing board, fiddled with her zipper tab for lack of something better to do. Quickly growing bored, she started to clamber up a nearby statue, watched closely by 8. Her movements, even with her knife-staff, were quick, agile, and accurate.

Within a few minutes, she was at the top. Creeping along the statues out-stretched arm to its hand, sitting herself cross-legged in its up-turned palm, facing the Courtyards gate.

Hopefully 9 and 5 would be back soon.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile . . . .<em>

5, 9, and the feathered Stitchpunk were working their way back to the Library. She looked . . . _unusual_, to put it simply and shortly.

She had soft, downy feathers from the shoulders down, with stiff, longer primary feathers on her wings and the tip of her tail. The feathers were white and speckled with black and dark grey. The fabric they could see on her head and most of her tail was a soft off-white.

Her legs seemed to have backwards knees, and three sharp copper claws extended instead of the normal, shoe-like foot-design that they had. On the left side of her chest was a small, embroidered picture. It was a brown telescope accented with shiny bronze and gold thread. On the right side of her chest was her number, a small, neatly written '**17**' on the white fabric. That part of her chest was free of feathers.

Her wings were actually bat-like and with five 'fingers'. Below her thumb and two normal fingers protruded two one-and-a-half-inch fingers, which supported the fabric of the wing. These two fingers could fold up until they were flat against the arm up to the elbow, taking the fabric and feathers with it.

17's three copper fingers were tipped with slightly curved, sharp copper claws, and her front seemed to be closed with small silver buttons shaped like feathers. but since they were beneath her regular feathers, it was hard to be sure. She was about half a head taller than 9, but it may have been how long her legs were. Her arms, too, were clearly longer than theirs, as they brushed just above her backwards 'knee'.

Her optics darted about in a curious manner, and she glanced guiltily at 5 every now and then, but still with a curious light. "Siamo quasi arrivati?" she asked, glancing around again. 5 and 9 glanced at eachother helplessly.

That was the other thing about 17. She spoke a different language and they couldn't understand her.

"We. Can't. Understand. You." 9 tried, slowly speaking and gesturing a little randomly.

"Don't." 17 protested in slight exasperation, stopping 9's hands, "Understand." she pointed from herself to them. 9 nodded slowly, and 5 glanced at her shyly.

"So, you can understand us okay?" 9 replied, and 17 nodded vigorously. She tried to hop forward a pace, and her tail, which was about as long as she was tall, flicking up high. It nearly smacked 9 in the chest, the feathers tickling his face as she scampered forward a few paces. He jerked back a little from the unexpected touch, watching as she nearly seemed to prance in place before moving forward again.

"9? Do you think that there might be others out there?" 5 asked in a low voice. 9 shrugged.

"Maybe, who knows? Other humans could have made more of us. And if her number is any indication, there could be at least six or seven more of us!"

"She looks like a bird." 5 muttered, watching her begin to climb up a large piece of wood, sharp claws holding her up as she climbed up the near-vertical surface.

"A bird?" repeated 9, feeling utterly lost.

As 5 explained a bit about birds and how there used to be a few left before the war wiped them all out, 17 had reached the top of the wooden plank. It was propped up hap-hazardously against some broken up cement, but she turned her attention to the position of the sun before glancing back at the two friends.

17 could barely believe that she had found them. The original Stitchpunks! Or at least, some of them. Hopefully, the rest were alive. Otherwise . . . . No. She couldn't think like that, she couldn't give up on Hope or Hope's grandfather like that.

A creak and the sound of metal hitting stone got her attention. Looking around, she caught sight of 9 and 5 beginning to work around the pile of rubble her plank of wood was propped against. Climbing down, she huffed and puffed as she ran to catch up. When she saw how far she had fallen behind, she warbled and whined, still out of breath.

They'd stopped, looking back for her as she suddenly skidded around the corner. She wasn't running very fast, panting by the time she skidded to a halt next to them. Looking at his map, 5 began to Guide them towards the Library once more.

"Are you able to fly?" 9 asked, and 17 nodded proudly, but she didn't extend her wings. Instead, she parted the downy feathers on her left shoulder to reveal three torn stitches. Not enough to hinder the movement in her arm, apparently, but enough to keep her from flying. Her face scrunched up in thought and concentration.

"Hurts . . . grounded . . . grounded _bad_." 17 finally said, seeming momentarily pleased before looking a cross between great sadness, terror, and fear. She glanced about warily.

"'Grounded'? what do you mean?" 5 asked, immediately regretting it when she seemed to back away from both of them with a small shiver.

17 moved her arms up and down slowly, pointing towards the sky, warbling and trilling happily. Then, she mimed her left wing bring completely limp, a small, sharp squeal of pain and terror, then exaggeratedly fell onto her back. She got back up, slowly limping forward, glancing about with fear, pretended to see something scary, tried to run, then 'fell' on her side with another sharp squeal, before lying completely limp.

Looking back up, 17 looked between the two Stitchpunks, getting back to her feet and shaking quickly to get the dust off ehr feathers. "So, being 'grounded' means you can't fly. And being unable to fly, you might become attacked?" 5 summarized, and 17 nodded happily, obviously pleased.

Night had just fallen when they finally reached the Library's gate. Crossing the Courtyard, 17 noticed a small figure on one of the statues. Pointing it out to 5 and 9, they paused just short of the statue, squinting up at the shape.

"It's just 0. I think she must've fallen asleep or somethin'." 8 grunted from the doorway. 17 cringed slightly, crouching low so that 5's body hid hers. She glanced up at the figure again.

0? Did that mean that there were _TEN_ first Stitchpunks, instead of nine? The figure shifted, stood, stretched, then clambered back down the way they came. Stopping just short of the ground, Zandra leapt and landed with a soft hiss.

17 stared over 5's shoulder at the exposed metal bone of the small figures leg, and at the cat skullmet and metal staff that gleamed white and metallicly in the moonlight. "You guys are back! Finally, took ya' long enough." Zandra exclaimed sarcastically. Catching sight of the winged 'punk, she tried to look around 5.

"Who's this?" she asked, and 8 glanced over again from his cleaver, noticing the new Stitchpunk for the first time.

"This is 17. 9 and I found her out there." 5 replied, trying to step aside so 17 would be to his right, but she kept moving with him, peeking over his shoulder.

"We should get inside and let the others know we're here." 9 suggested, beginning to lead them in. 17 perked up at his mention of others.

'Maybe they'll all be here! Oh, and maybe they can fix me up, too!' 17 thought to herself, jumping slightly when 8 grunted loudly at her. She snarled back, spreading her arms out parallel to the ground, spreading her claws out so that they glinted in the moonlight.

8 stared, then backed off, and 17 hurried after the others.

* * *

><p><strong>Me: And, end.<strong>

**17: Perché non gli altri mi capisci?**

**9: Do you know what she said?**

**5: I have no idea. *looks at her with a mixture of wonder, whispering, 'She looks like an Angel'***

**9: What?**

**5: Nothing!**

**Me: Pretty much asking why she can't be understood.(To everyone else reading this, she speaks Italian. The other 'punks won't learn this until later.)**

**Zandra: So, she can fly? That's pretty cool. Who made her?**

**Me: Hope.**

**9, 5 and Zandra: . . . . . . *looks of 'uh . . .'. You know the one.***

**17: *gets excited* Hope Raine ci ha creato , una variazione di modelli del nonno di voi ragazzi. *looks expectantly at the others***

**9: Uh. . . .**

**5: Something about hoping for rain?**

**Zandra: *grumbles* where's 3 and 4 when you need them?**

**Me: I'll leave what she said mystery until later. It's a bit of a spoiler, so sorry to any Italians or Italian speakers out there. And if I've gotten anything wrong with my Italian spelling, please let me know and I'll fix it immediately.**

**17: Si prega di godere e non vedo l'ora per il sequel , dove si incontra il resto di noi ala-punks!**

**Me: She asked for you to please enjoy and . . . . 17! That's a spoiler, for crying out loud!**

**17: *smiles sheepishly, putting up her hands in a shrug***

**Me: Anyway, please read and review!**

**Me, 9, Zandra, and 5: 'Bye!**

**17: Addio!**

**Me: Oh, wait, one last thing! This is probably my last post for awhile since I'm going out of town for Christmas. So, here is my early Christmas present to you, fellow readers and writers!**

**0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Cat and Me: We wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**

**1: Why did we have to do that?**

**Me: Because I said so and its nice.**

**17:**** Vi auguriamo un buon Natale e un felice anno nuovo! (**We wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**)**

**Everyone: Bye! Happy holidays!**


	14. Dreams and Disasters

**Author's Note**

**I don't own 9**

**Hi! Hope you had fun over the holidays! No idea why I picked this for a chapter thing, but I don't own the song. The song 'Dreams and Disasters' belongs solely to 'Owl City'.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14:<strong> Dreams and Disasters

* * *

><p>17 seemed reluctant to leave 5, always glancing around with some level of fear. So, he brought her along to the Workshop. 2 smiled when he saw his apprentice. "5, your back! did you find any . . ." he trailed off, catching sight of 17 before she ducked back out of sight.<p>

"Who's that?" 2 asked curiously, trying to edge around his apprentice. 5 gently took 17's hand, stepping just to the side so 2 could see her. Hesitantly, she stopped half-crouching and rose to her full height. 2 gasped lowly in surprise, but quickly adopted his calming smile again.

"My name is 2, what's yours?" he stepped around to her back, carefully pushing up the downy feathers to try and find her number. 17 pawed the ground slightly with a foot, tail tip twitching before she let go of 5's hand and turned to face 2. Pointing to her chest, she pointed to her number.

"17, huh?" 2 mused, taking a closer look at her patch in the candlelight.

17 pawed the ground again, her left-hind claws catching and sticking in the wood floor.

"Are there any others out there? Judging by your number, there must be at least seven more!" 2 exclaimed, gesturing a bit too wildly for 17's liking. With a slight tug, she got her hind claws free. She nodded slowly to answer 2's question, quietly walking around him to sit on a nearby bed. Parting the feathers on her shoulder revealed the torn stitches.

5 stepped up to take a look at them while 2 chuckled happily. "Where are they at? Near here, by any chance?" he looked at the wound on her shoulder and his cloth lips pressed together with worry. "What happened?"

17 seemed to struggle to find the words. "Fast . . . fly too fast, no help, hurt." she scowled, stitched brows etched with concentration. "Fly home, _towards_ home, but got bad . . . more bad." she corrected, gesturing to her shoulder, wincing as 5 started to sew it up.

"Sorry," he muttered, focused on his work.

"Grounded . . . . Seek help. Find help here. Seeking family . . . family lost." 17 had a pleased expression before it fell away to sadness and loss.

2 gently took her hand. "Your families gone? What happened?" he asked softly.

17 shrugged her right shoulder. "Scouting mission, half a moon and . . ." her stitched brow was etched with concentration again, then she winced as 5 tied off the stitches.

" . . . and three sunrises ago. I stayed, and my . . . " 17 trailed off, closing her shutters and taking a shuddering breath. "Left, never came back. I find them. I can not . . . ." 17 closed her shutters again, pulling her legs to her chest and wrapping her tail around them, resting her head on one hand above her haunches, covering her head with her other wing. After a few moments, she sat back up, legs and tail down, arms at her sides once more.

"Brother and sister, little. I hurt, stayed back. Shouldn't, and now search. But grounded," she gestured to her previously injured left wing, "for two sunrises."

5 lightly patted her shoulder. "We'll help you find them. Where's the rest of your family?" the healer asked, taking a pair of large scissors. Shutters widening, 17 held up her hands. Reaching up, she cut the long end-thread with two claws, handing it over to 2. Both stared at her.

"Far away. Protecting home. Monsters." 17 replied. Before they could ask her further about it, 1 suddenly walked in.

He scrutinized the winged Stitchpunk, while 17 stared at him, mouth agape. "What's this?" he demanded, marching right up to 17. 17 narrowed her shutters, not liking his authoritative, demanding tone.

Standing up so that she was directly at his eye level, well, just slightly above, she pointed to her number. "17. Tu chi sei?" she replied.

1 stared, before crossing his arms. "Who brought this thing in here?" he demanded, using the end of his staff to lift up one of her hands, revealing sharpened claws at jagged angles. 17 jerked her hand back, growling lowly in warning. 1 jerked back, before pointing accusingly at her.

"**_What have you done?!_**" he snarled at 5, who cowered under his gaze. "You and that fool 9, leading a Beast into our midst? Are you out of your mind?!" 2 tried to break it up, but 1 would have none of it.

17 looked back and forth between them as 1 suddenly ignored her and hounded the younger male. She didn't quite understand what a 'Beast' was, but why get so mad? They'd only been trying to help her.

17 stepped between them, growling lowly to get him to back off. "Animal sounds. . . is normal for. . . me." she got out, struggling to find the right words. "Little brother . . . only speak . . . with sounds. I have to . . . know how . . . to speak like . . . that, you old grouch." 17 finally got out, crossing her arms and twitching her tail in agitation.

1 glared at her, and she glared back. "We. Are. The. Same." 17 ground out, trying to emphasize her words and get through the older Stitchpunks thick head. Lightly tapping his chest, even though he flinched back, 17 finished, "in here. . . .similar Creators, different times. Family." withdrawing her hand, 17 eyed 1, trying to see if she'd made any difference or if he would continue to be a grumpy-butt about everything.

1 snorted after a moment. "Fine, see if I care when we're all torn to shreds!" he turned on his heel and stalked out. 17 didn't know what to make of him. He was very different from anyone back home.

"Don't mind him to much, 17." 2 comforted, putting a hand on her shoulder. "1 just likes to spout hot air. And with this plan we've made, well, he's just warier than usual. Last time we had a newcomer . . . ." 2 trailed off, leaving the thought unsaid, but giving 17 a sense of curiosity.

What happened the last time there was a newcomer?

She never got he chance to voice this as 6 suddenly gave a strangled cry, struggling and fighting on the bed he was on, kicking the wall hard and falling off the bed. He bolted upright, breathing hard, hugging his key tight. "6? You alright?" 5 asked, crouching down so he was on eye-level with the artist. 6 sobbed, clinging to 5, shaking terribly.

"You're okay, you're okay!" 6 finally got out, lightly touching 5's chest over the heart. Looking up at footsteps, he cried out again as 17 stepped closer. "Y-you're here? _Already_? But, but, but. . . ." the artist mumbled, shutters slipping shut, and he felt his side carefully, crying out in pain.

5 gently helped 6 back onto the bed, noticing easily how hot he'd become. "You . . . know? How?" 17 asked, sitting down carefully next to the artist. 6 looked up at her with widened shutters.

"S-saw it. . . . on the Time Road." he got out. 2 and 5 glanced at eachother. 6 had spoken of the Road of Time, or Time Road, before, but they'd thought that it was simply a dream caused by a fever, as he was always overheating at least slightly when he woke up. 2 had taken it seriously, though, at least a little more than others, when 6 foresaw that 2 would meet 9 while he was scouting.

17 nodded in understanding. "Strada del Tempo; Road of Time. See tomorrow, help today." 17 said simply, and 6 nodded, shutters wide.

"You're here, which means. . . " 6 muttered inaudibly, holding his key.

* * *

><p>A little while later . . . . .<p>

" . . . and that's how we found 17." 9 concluded for the others. Currently, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 17, and Zandra were gathered around a small, makeshift table, the plan and a map stretched out before them.

Zandra was glaring at the written plan.

"If only I could read . . ." she muttered under her breath. Louder, she continued, "17 may be able to help us. She could scout ahead and let us know if there's any Beasts trying to sneak up on us."

17 gave a slight nod, still trying to puzzle out what 'Beasts' were. They went over and reviewed everything they could, trying to catch and shore up any weaknesses in the plan. 17, through a little trial and error, managed to get across that she wouldn't be able to fly for another day or so, despite having the injury sewn up. 1 was still wary of her.

"Quali sono Beasts?" 17 asked, still struggling to understand.

1 glared at her. "Speak! English!" he tried, and 17 only rolled her shutters.

"Not good. . . .at your . . . ." she gestured helplessly for a moment. "Words . . . . you blame for . . . . try understand?" 17 finished, flicking her tail ip, the feathers fanning out for a moment before snapping back together again.

After a lot more planning, yelling, and arguing, they finally managed to agree to their immediate plan of action.

As long as Cat was good on her end, they would be able to execute their plan within two days at minimum, a week at most.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Destroy the Machine Forever; Plan #1<span>**

/

**Willing people joining;** _5, 7, 8, 9, 0, 17, and Cat_

**/**

**Unwilling people joining;** _Spiderbots_

**/**

**Supplies;** _weapons, wire cutters, dynamite/bombs/barrels of oil and/or gun powder_('firepower' will refer to whatever we use/find)_, sewing supplies_

**/**

**Strategy;** _Cat will tell the Spiderbots to come with her. They will go to the Machine and start breaking down its exterior. While that happens, 8 will carry the firepower while 7 and 5 guard him._

_Once the Spiderbots have broken through to a lot of the wires beneath, 9 and 0 will appear and lead the Spiderbots into a pre-made trap, while the others go in and prepare to light the firepower._

_Then, once they've cut up the wires, everybody will get well away except for one person. That person will light off the firepower, and we'll be able to watch as the Machine becomes permanently destroyed, as well as rounding up a few Beasts at the same time._

**/**

**Groups/Gathering of Supplies/Further Strategy;** _Everyone (excluding 2, the Twins and 6) will spread out and work together to find the firepower. Once found, sufficient amounts will be stored near the Machine for later use. 1 and 2 will remain behind to look after 6, 3, and 4._

_Once the firepower has been secured, weapons will be gathered, sharpened, made, etc. in preparation for battle. Proper supplies for treating injuries should be kept on-hand and brought to the battlefield, as well as stocked at Home Base._

**/**

**Aftermath;** _The Machine will never be a problem again, and the Beasts a smaller problem than before. We shall be free of fear and be able to explore as we please. First order of business will then be assisting 17 in getting back home and meeting the new Others._

* * *

><p>After rewriting a bit of the plan and double checking, the Twins felt free to tug 17 aside and catalog her. 17 watched in amusement as they lifted and tugged and pulled. 17 glanced up at 9 and 5, gesturing to the Twins helplessly.<p>

"They did that to me, too. They're cataloging." 9 explained.

"Registrazione per il futuro? Learn for . . . future?" 17 replied, looking down as 4 tugged at her hind claws and prodded her backwards 'knee'.

"Something like that." replied 5.

3 tugged at one of the silver buttons, and 17 gently stopped him, shaking her head no. Before too long, she got them into a game of tag. She wasn't very good at running, though, clumsy and slow. But she could jump pretty high, able to leap and cling to a bookshelf, tail swinging teasingly out of reach.

5 and 9 watched them, 9 snickering in amusement until one of the Twins tagged him. Within several minutes, 5 had been roped in as well, all of them running around the Library and laughing.

Before too long, though, they had to go to bed. The Twins offered to let 17 sleep in their room. They were antsy, though, and couldn't settle very well. 17 finally decided that enough was enough. Lightly nudging them into their beds, she quickly thought up a lullaby from home, that she believed used 'their words'. Snuggling carefully between them, she began.

"_~Hush, little Wingpup, don't say a word._  
><em>Soon you will be free like a bird!<em>

_Flying swiftly and silently in your dreams,_  
><em>Swerving and diving from the ceiling beams.<em>

_Just close your shutters and tuck in your tail,_  
><em>So tomorrow you can go and make your own trail.~<em>"

7 peeked through the curtain, smiled at the sight, then went on her way to bed.

"_~Making great adventures in your heart to keep,_  
><em>Tomorrow will come sooner when you fall asleep.<em>

_Shush, little Wingpup, don't make a sound,_  
><em>If you do not see me and feel lost, not found.<em>  
><em>I'll only be keeping my optics out,<em>  
><em>To ward off any Monster lurking about.<em>

_Quiet little Wingpups, fast asleep,_  
><em>Wings folded in and heads laid down.<em>  
><em>Sweet little Wingpups, not a care in the world,<em>  
><em>Laying in their nests, safe, and, sound.~<em>"

3 and 4 were asleep, snuggled into her soft feathers. 17, feeling drowsy herself, wrapped her arms and tail around them and fell asleep, comforted by the presence of two others.

Just like her own little brother and sister, lost out there in the big, harsh, unforgiving world.

* * *

><p><strong>Me: Phew, done.<strong>

**1: How come that devil cannot speak English but can _sing_ it?**

**Me: Because, that's how she learned the song.**

**17: Io non sono degno litigare.****(**I am not worth arguing over.**) *crosses arms.**

**Me: Don't worry, there'll be plenty of action really, really soon. If not next chapter, then the one afterwards.**

**17: A****rrivederci!**

**Me: Please review!**


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